Midnight
by Insanitoon
Summary: Set a while after the Victorian era. Near's father has just died and now he must live with Light Yagami, his Uncle. But when Near meets Mello and then a very unsual teacher, he begins to suspect that things are not as they seem. Re-rated M. Mello x Near
1. Arrival

Author's Note: Hello! This is the first chapter of my first ever Death Note fanfiction ) I've already planned out roughly what the plot will be, so it's simply a case of writing it, and collaborating with my lifesaver of a beta-reader (Forbiddensoul562!) to make it into something remotely readable. Thanks Forbiddensou!

This is set in the period of time between the Victorian Era and Industrial Age. Quite wide, I know, but history isn't my best subject, so I'm giving myself space lest I make an error unawares XD

I hope you enjoy reading it, and, if you have any comments whatsoever, let me know in a review -all feedback is appreciated!

Also, bear in mind that I represent thought in italics: _'I'm a thought, yay!' _

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Death Note, nor any of the characters or concepts associated with it.

-

**Midnight:**

Chapter 1: Arrival

"He's dead…"

The carriage trundled through the narrow, cobbled streets of Winchester, taking Near to his Uncle's home.

Near had left his own home only this afternoon, despite having never wanted to leave. He'd stayed in his father's room for as long as he could, clinging to his father's bedsheets, wishing and begging that he'd come back.

But to no avail, it was impossible.

When he'd realised this, he just let go and slumped on the floor, barely holding on to his threadbare teddy – a present from his parents when he was just an infant.

They'd carried him into the carriage; some of them were crying – the maid, Mrs. Smith, had cried the most, and the gardener, Mr. Long, had simply stared at Near blankly. Near had stared back.

Finally, they had truly bid him goodbye, before closing the doors. They'd closed with a metallic click – like the click of a coffin lid, closing on a corpse for all eternity.

It had only been a few hours ago at most, but it felt more like days since he'd left.

Near was shaking, though he barely felt whatever baleful cold was causing his body to react the way it was. His head lolled from side to side as the carriage turned corner after corner, further distorting his already blurry image of the streets as they swam past the carriage window.

He clutched the teddy bear tightly against his pyjamas, brought his left leg up to his chest, and cried. His cries became sobs, his body shook, and his knuckles whitened under the strength of his grip on the bear.

"_Why_!? Why did you have to fall ill!? Father… please…"

He dug his fingers into his knee with his free hand, fumbling for his words, "Please don't go… come back… I don't…I'm scared… please…"

Near brought his other knee up and huddled himself into a ball – his white hair fell down in front of his face and obscuring his vision of everything but his own chest. His sobs finally dwindled into a heavy sigh. He felt so tired… he didn't even have the energy to cry anymore.

Near then realised that he wasn't sure where they were now; he only knew he was going to stay with his Uncle in Winchester.

The carriage began to slow down.

'_Why are we slowing down? Are we at a crossing or a populated place? …At 8pm…?'_ Near wondered.

The horse-driven vehicle abruptly halted; he heard the driver climb down from the front of the carriage.

Near felt his body stiffen. He'd known that actually going into this foreign dwelling place would be difficult, but, seemingly, he'd underestimated just how difficult it was going to be.

The driver opened the door; the shadowed streets of Winchester stared at him hungrily. Near hesitated, and then resignedly shuffled out and onto the pathway – he could feel the iciness of the cobbles through his white socks.

The white-haired boy stared at the enourmous, imposing entryway before him, staring in particular at the large bronze lion head that was the knocker. Eventually, the driver walked up to Near, lifted the knocker, and rapped it against the gnarled wooden door.

Within moments it swung open soundlessly; a low voice ushered them in, "Welcome, I've been expecting you."

They walked into the lobby; the polished floors reflected their forms like a mirror. Near heard the door close softly behind them, and then a young man walked into his field of vision.

"Greetings Mr. Wammy, the other housekeepers at my brother's residence informed me of your arrival. I am Light Yagami." Light extended his hand to the elderly driver. Wammy placed his hand in Light's and they shook hands, Light gripped Wammy's hand so tightly that the older gentleman felt it for a few seconds afterward.

"I'm sorry to hear of my brother's death… I know that I am his son's guardian now," he looked down at Near, his mud-brown eyes shone like those of a puppet, and his expression looked entirely alien, as if it had been painted or sewn onto his face, "you're Near, right?"

Near nodded, twirling a lock of white hair between his fingers.

"I'm your Uncle, I'm sure your father has mentioned me before."

He held his hand out to Near, but the boy just stared at it, as it if were a venomous snake he was proffering instead of an open hand.

He slowly retracted his hand, "You'll feel welcome here, Near, don't worry."

Near frowned mentally, _'I doubt that 'welcome' will be among the feelings I have whilst I am trapped in this place.' _

Light's smile left his face as suddenly as it had appeared; he turned to face Wammy, "How are you feeling, Mr. Wammy?"

The carriage driver looked down at Near, his face creased in concern.

"Awful, Mr. Yagami sir, absolutely awful; Aiko Yagami was a great friend of mine." Wammy replied, barely able to conceal the sadness that afflicted him.

Light gave a small nod in consolation. There was a brief pause, then Wammy sighed, running a hand through his grey hair.

"…Well," Mr. Wammy began, kneeling down, "Will you be okay here, Near?" He tried in vain to gain some kind of understanding from Near's blank expression.

Near gave a small nod, "You have no reason to be concerned Mr. Wammy, I should be fine here."

A ghost of a frown passed over Wammy's lined and bespectacled face.

"All right… then I shall stay the night with a friend, and leave for London first thing tomorrow morning."

A small smile crossed Light's lips, "Okay then Mr. Wammy, goodbye. I wish you all the best."

Light extended his hand yet again –this time so vigorously that Near could see the veins on Mr. Wammy's arm bulge; then Wammy was at the door waving. "Goodbye Near, I shall come to visit you sometime."

"I would like that Mr. Wammy, thank you. Goodbye." Near wearily lifted his pale hand to wave in return. Then the door was closed, and Near was alone in the cavernous lobby with his uncle, Light Yagami.

Light's mouth curved in a smile, "Shall I show you your room, Near?"

Near nodded, and Light strode up the wide, grand staircase.

Near walked slowly behind him, wary of any hidden figures in the places the lamplight didn't reach. He looked upwards, and his eyes were drawn instantly to the clock on the wall in front of him. It was enormous – covering almost the whole wall; it was a mass of interwoven gold and bronze in the form of a burning sun, and he could hear its ticking even before he reached the top of the stairs where it rested.

Light reached the top and turned left; he motioned for Near to follow him. Near tried to walk a bit faster, but only succeeded in dragging his feet across the floor more noisily.

He looked over the balcony – the drop to the lobby floor seemed quite large from this height. He jerked his head in the other direction, looking instead at a shadowy staircase leading up into what he supposed was the attic.

He preferred the balcony.

Light had already reached his room; he held the door open, inviting Near in. Near was struck with a sudden apprehension; he didn't want to go in there, maybe Light was leading him right into the jowls of the beast – Near recalled the disturbing falseness in Light's features.

_'Oh dear God why did I tell Mr. Wammy that I was okay? I'm not okay… come back Mr. Wammy, don't leave me here, please don't leave me here!'_

He was afraid to move, but he kept moving anyway, he couldn't stop moving; every place in the manor seemed dangerous, every sound, every sight, every shadow… –at least in a room of his own he could lock most of the house out.

But he'd also be locking himself in.

Near paused in front of Light and looked into the room. It was very well lit – three oil lamps were placed around the room -including one on his bedside table, leaving very little in shadow. The bed was big enough for two people, and the floral covers looked particularly soft and warm.

A smile cut across Light's face once more, "Will this be okay?"

Near looked into the room again – it seemed so perfect for him, and yet, he still couldn't shake off the feeling that he was in some kind of danger. "Yes, thank you Uncle."

Near took one step forward, hesitated, and then walked all the way in; half expecting Light to lock him in the room with whatever demons lurked underneath its comfortable guise.

Light slowly closed the door, walking down the stairs in the same audibly confident fashion that he had done when he'd walked up them.

Near felt somewhat more comfortable in the slightly smaller space. The bed looked particularly inviting.

'Inviting like a bloody, gaping maw, waiting for me to get close so that it can rend my flesh from my body.'

Near whimpered at the thought, backing away from the bed and walking into something hard.

"Ah! Get away from me! Get away!" He clutched his head in fear as jumped forward, away from whatever had just touched him. He dragged his body around to face whatever he had walked into. It had been a chair.

'_What am I doing?'_ Near released his head. _'I've not been attacked… and I was jumping away from a piece of furniture.'_

He looked around him then finally sighed and walked over to the bed; he sat down with one foot on the bed, and the other hanging off of it.

_'I'm not lying down on this thing yet… if I do; they could attack me…but…Who is 'they'?'_

Near thought about this for a moment, and realised that he actually didn't know who 'they' were.

_' …What state of mind have I been reduced to? What is wrong with me?'_

'_I just want to rest…I wish Mr. Wammy were here. I could count on him to protect me whilst I slept.'_

Quillish Wammy had been the servant at Near's household for many years. But, for a few months during Near's father's illness, Quillish had been away. Near had meant to ask him where he had been, but the circumstances got in the way of him doing so.

'_Mr. Wammy and my father were the only people I felt safe around… father…'_ Near clutched the teddy bear to his chest.

_'But, rationally, there isn't anything here that can attack me; demons don't exist.'_

_'That's true.'_

'_Yes… but, then, why do my emotions insist upon their existence…?' _Near shook his head, he wasn't thinking clearly tonight.

'_I should rest…'_

'_-I'm not lying down. __I can't-'_

_'-But I must, so I shall.'_

He'd never felt so tense before in his life; every muscle in his body was screaming. He punched the bed out of sheer nervous energy.

That was it, he'd had enough of the nonsense his mind had decided to fill itself with. He flung himself down onto the bed, holding his breath and digging his fingers into the covers, ready to be eaten alive by the being that dwells in the darkest corners of existence.

He breathed out. The being didn't bite him.

_'I need to sleep.'_

Near crawled over to the pillows and wriggled under the covers. The soft, warm layers enveloped his body, and, for the first time in days, he felt at peace. He supposed that a child would feel this way in its mother's arms. He quickly pushed that thought from his mind, and took a few deep breaths. He nuzzled his head into the thick pillow and relaxed.

Within a few minutes, he was fast asleep.

-

_A/N: Thanks for reading my fanfiction! I bring in the rest of the characters mentioned in the summary in the next chapter -which is the beginning of the main section of the story._

_I hope you've enjoyed reading Midnight thus far ) and I hope you keep on reading - this first chapter is only the tip of the iceberg!_

_Thanks again,_

_-Insanitoon_


	2. Introductions

A/N: Hello! Just wanted to say that this chapter took forever to get right (tons of editing - thanks again Forbiddensoul562!), and that I hope you enjoy it!

As a reminder, this is set in the period between the Victorian and Industrial ages.  
**  
Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, nor any of the character concepts, including Mello, Near, L and Light. These belong to the creators of Death Note and any affiliated companies or parties.**

--

**Chapter 2: Introductions **

'_So, Near's his name, is it?'_

Mello ran a hand through his long, blonde hair, _'Yagami seems to like him – all I could hear last night was Light saying his goddamn name. I thought Light was obsessed with privacy for fuck sake – he must know how thin these walls are.'_

The young man pulled on his boots, readying himself for another day of meaningless drudgery.

_'Near's probably the same as his dick of a one-person fan club. I doubt he's poor if he's been allowed to stay here. Light probably wouldn't let someone who was worth less than the equivalent of 3 banks fucking breathe in here.'_

Mello tightened the laces of his boots with particular force.

_'Fucking bastards… I hate every single one of them! Thinking that they're better than me just because they were born with a silver spoon up their asses!'_

Mello tied the laces up and kicked his foot against the floor, knocking up a loose floorboard as he did so. He told himself it was to test his boots; inside, he knew that he was kidding himself, but he didn't really care.

_'Two years of shit from this guy, two whole fucking years out of my eighteen, and what thanks do I get? "Mello, you haven't cleaned this wooden panel properly. Mello do I need to remind you of your place?" Mello this, Mello that! And now he wants to bring in some kind of heir to boss me around once he's gone! I swear, if I was an idiot like most house servants I would have killed that son of a bitch myself after just a month of his shit.'_

He brushed his hair out of his eyes. _'Sometimes starving on the streets of Winchester seems appealing.'_

He stood up with a sigh, dusting off his worn out grey coat and gritting his teeth as he mumbled, "Time to go to work…"

-

Near slowly opened his eyes, the white cover obscured his vision; the piercing light of the sun was dulled to a hazy glow.

He carefully lowered the blankets, allowing his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the morning sun flooding in through the bedroom window. Nothing could be heard but the sound of birds calling to one another outside.

He felt calmer than he had the night before; though even thinking of leaving the bedroom made him feel apprehensive at the moment.

He hugged his teddy bear tightly; _'I'll be fine so long as I stay in here…'_

Suddenly, he heard a loud _clack_. The birds flew away in unison; the sound of their fluttering wings blew past the roof of the house and over to the other side like a gust of wind.

'_What on Earth caused that?'_ Near wondered.

He pushed himself upright and stretched languorously, raising his arms high into the air before flopping forwards and sighing.

He put one foot on the floor, followed by the other, and then pushed the covers off of himself all together. He regretted the latter – the winter cold bit into his body, stinging his skin like a thousand tiny needles.

Near yelped in surprise, wishing that he'd brought some warmer clothing with him. He wrapped his arms around himself, and, ignoring the iciness that was consuming his body, walked over to the window.

That was when he saw him.

He was mowing the lawn; but not simply mowing it; he was running around the lawn, manual lawn mower and all, grinning what could very well have been a snarl, like a maniac who had just broken out of a mental hospital.

But then the person who was gardening halted abruptly, and shoved the mower to one side like a toy he had grown tired of. He leaned over and picked up a pair of shears, looking at them contemplatively for a moment before proceeding to cut the garden hedges in a wild and erratic fashion.

Near was mesmerised, as if every motion this person made was some kind of uncouth poetry. Never before had he met anyone with so much vitality – or someone whose energy was so alluring.

'_This is strange, I can't recall having found someone I haven't spoken to before affect me in this way. What is it that I am feeling, and why am I feeling it? It is possible that I am simply in desperate need of interpersonal comfort, and so am finding everyone I lay my eyes upon as being some sort of friend until proven otherwise.'_

He shook his head, _'No, that doesn't seem to fit… what is this feeling?'_

Near watched him for a while longer, until he stopped cutting the privets, and disdainfully chucked the shears behind him. They landed with a tremendous clang, but he didn't seem to notice.

The blonde boy swiftly turned around, and he and Near's eyes met.

He glared at the white-haired boy, shouting something unintelligible before he stuck his middle finger up at Near and stormed inside.

Near backed away from the window, afraid that the person he had been admiring only moments ago was going to come into his room and attack him for doing so. He couldn't help but sense the bitter irony in that scenario.

He stared at the lock on his bedroom door, then ran over to the door and twisted the lock, sighing in relief, when it clicked into place.

'_There… now I'm safe.'_

-

"That shit…" Mello mumbled.

'_Why the hell was he staring at me?'_

Mello charged into the lobby, growing more irritated with every footstep.

'_Was his hair white? What is that, some sort of boosted ageing process or something?_ _It's not normal to have white hair.' _

_'Well there's no way I'm just dropping this; one Light is bad enough, no fucking way am I putting up with two –_especially_ not one that likes to watch me like some kind of God damn stalker.'  
_

He ran up the staircase

-and straight into the man standing there, knocking them both off of their feet with a joint "Umph!".

Mello clutched his head with both hands. The room swam before his eyes like seawater, and his head felt like it was being pulled under the staircase by a lump of rock.

He tried to get up, but his legs supported him about as well as matchsticks; he slipped –twice, and had to hold on to the stair banister to finally reach an upright posture.

When Mello looked up at the person he had ran into, he found that he was already on his feet however, and was staring at the blonde-haired boy as if he were a new species of animal.

Mello bared his teeth, "Stop staring at me, you freak! And watch where you're going next time for God's sake!" He growled.

The man simply looked at Mello blankly, his shaggy black mane almost completely covering his dull, coal-grey eyes. He placed a thumb to his lips. "Hello," he began calmly, seemingly unaware of Mello's ire; "you must be Mello."

Mello balled his hands into fists, "What!? How do you know my name?"

His voice remained level, "I was told that you were a vivacious and honest person."

Mello was sorely tempted to punch the man in the face, _hard_. He tried to control his voice, "Who the hell are you?"

"You may call me L. Do you know where Near is?"

'_What, so I'm not good enough to know his full name? Does actually expect me to address him by a fucking _initial_?'_ Mello thought, feeling slightly frustrated.

"How should I know? I'm not his keeper."

L cocked his head, "You aren't? I thought you were the house servant."

Mello lost what little composure he had and swung for the man in front of him. L ducked and placed his hand on the floor; then lifted his legs off of the ground, and swung them toward Mello in a sweeping motion, knocking the blonde servant off of his feet. Mello fell back onto the floor with a thump.

L got back to his feet, brushing barely visible traces of dust off of his legs in a leisurely manner, "You're not as quick as I thought you might be. I shall simply have to find Near myself."

He leaned over Mello and waved; his expression was calm, as if he'd just had a cup of tea and a nice chat with some friends of his. Mello certainly did _not_ consider himself to be in that category. "Goodbye Mello," he said amicably, "it was nice meeting you."

L walked away before Mello could retort and strolled onto the landing left of the clock, knocking on each door and moving on to the next one before he even got an answer.

-

Near, having heard the scuffle was already behind the door to his room, attempting to listen by placing his ear against the polished wood.

When L eventually knocked it gave the white-haired boy such a shock that he jumped and ended up bumping his head on the doorframe.

Rubbing his sore head, he unlocked the door and eased it open.

L was hunched in the doorway, and Near resisted the urge to leap back upon seeing his wide, probing eyes staring down at him.

L scuttled into Near's room uninvited; his eyes found their way to a steaming cup of tea resting on Near's bedside table as he said, "Hello Near, how are you?"

Near was completely nonplussed by L's strange behaviour. Near was sitting on the bed now, but he didn't remember sitting down. Nor was he aware that he was playing with his white hair again –he always did it whenever he was deep in thought.

Near looked at L, "Who are you, and how do you know my name?"

"You may call me L, and I am your teacher. I know your name because I am a friend of Yagami-kun's."

Near pulled on his white hair_. '-Kun… that's a Japanese honorific used when one refers to a boy, or possibly a male of equal status to oneself. He must be close to Light. But, more importantly, he must have some sort of Japanese heritage, much like my own family.'_

"I see." Near said flatly, looking down at his legs. _'He referred to himself simply as L; he must want to hide his name from me for some reason, but why?'_

"Are you going to drink that tea?" L asked inquisitively.

Near almost allowed himself to degenerate into incoherent stuttering at the strangeness of such a question, but he decided to avoid that by not speaking altogether, simply shaking his head in reply.

L wandered over to the teacup, "Then I may drink it?"

He nodded.

The teacher picked up the tea, climbing onto a chair and sitting on his bare feet, "Did you make this?"

Near finally broke his silence, looking back up to see L sitting on the armchair next to his bed, "No, my uncle Light made it. It was here when I woke up, so he must have brought it in this morning."

L sipped the tea, holding the cup with only his thumb and index finger, "Ah, I see. Do you know where Light is by any chance?"

'_He didn't use –kun this time… why? Did he deliberately use –kun to imply that he has Japanese ancestors as well? It's possible, this man behaves very unconventionally, so he may communicate things in a similar fashion'_

Near eventually shook his head, "No, and I haven't heard him walking around this morning."

L nodded dramatically, as if fervently agreeing with a brilliant idea Near had just came up with. "Yes, he left early this morning to meet with the aristocrats whom he chooses to associate with."

Near was perplexed, _'If you already knew, then why did you ask me, L?'_

L picked up the small teapot-shaped sugar holder and poured half of it into the elegant china teacup, "This tea isn't sweet enough… most definitely not."

Near stared in amazement – he simply couldn't believe that the man before him was his teacher.

L glanced at the steaming plate of food next to the tea set. He pointed his middle finger at the plate, his index finger and thumb already being occupied with holding the teacup, "Near, you don't have to eat this."

Near cocked his head to the side; his confusion apparent in his usually calm voice, "Excuse me?"

"This food, you don't need to eat it. If you want, you could simply consume this sugar instead." L gestured toward the half-empty bowl of sugar with his spare hand.

Near frowned slightly, "I think I will pass, thank you."

This time L frowned – his face darkened and became so serious that Near feared he had somehow offended the eccentric tutor.

L heaved a sigh, drawing out every word as he said -with slight melancholy, "Very well Near…"

_'Surely he can't be as sombre as he appears to be?'_

L placed the teacup back down next to the sugar; he did it so gently that it didn't even clink against the china tray.

He looked at Near, tilting his head to the side as he asked, "What do you think of your uncle, Near?"

_'The questions he's asking me are highly unusual for a teacher to ask; what is he trying to find out by inquiring about my uncle? Hasn't he already met him? I can't ask him that question though, or else I will seem suspicious.'_

Near stared back at L, the teacher's eyes boring into his skull like branding irons, "I don't know him very well, but I assume that he is a person of integrity like my father was."

L chewed the pad of his thumb; "You shouldn't make assumptions."

This time, Near said nothing. L simply stared at Near in silence for several minutes, until finally he picked up the teacup once more, righting his head as he did so, and said, "So, shall we begin the lesson?"

Based on his teacher's behaviour alone, Near was hesitant to go under his tutelage. However, knowing that refusal was hardly an option, Near nodded, and L began to tutor him on the relatively mundane subject of Greek poetry.

-

Mello had retired to the library downstairs to think after his encounter with 'L'. He'd chucked his grey coat onto the floor and sat in an armchair in the darkest corner of the musty room. He glanced at a book he had no intention of reading – it made good camouflage should someone walk in.

'_He knows my name. Who told him my name? Did Light tell him?'_

Mello turned a page in the book. _'L didn't look normal, and he didn't speak normally either. What's wrong with him –is he one of Light's 'friends'? If that's true, then Near is definitely my enemy as well.'_

He turned another page.

_'He might be an enemy of Light's – though that seems unlikely given that he's walked right into Light's house. He may be a friend of Near's from wherever he was staying last. Most importantly, why has he come here at all?'_

Mello began to chew on his index finger. _'He said he came here to see Near… what he's seeing Near about, I don't know… Is it about me? Are they talking about me at this very moment…?'_

Mello bit down on his finger.

_'I'm going to have to ask him if I want to find out what's going on… but I don't want him to think that he can manipulate me like some kind of puppet… I'll need a guise…'_

Mello released his finger from the grip of his teeth and looked at it – it was now covered in sore, red marks. The blonde boy tried to think of a reason to go and see Near that wouldn't make him appear obsessed, or strange, but none came to mind. Mello put his finger back into his mouth and bit down on it again, except this time harder.

_'Shit… I haven't got any options… I'm going to have to improvise; I mean I don't even know the kid...'_

Mello listlessly dropped the book he had been holding on to the floor next to his coat and walked up to the library door. This wasn't going to be easy.

-

The lesson only lasted an hour before L finally bid Near goodbye and left the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.

Near twirled his hair between his fingers, _'Why is it that everyone I meet in this place seems to be hiding something? What am I missing? … I'm sure L was trying to tell me something… his comments were too out of place to be intended as conversational speech. Also, when he was teaching me, he spoke in a manner that was normal in comparison to the initial conversation.'_

He didn't understand whatever convoluted message L was trying to send him, and this frustrated him to no end.

'_I'm missing something – it seems as if everything needed to understand this situation is before me. But… what is it that I can't see? L used –kun, he mentioned eating sugar, he sat barefoot… he stared at me quite intensely when he asked about my wellbeing…and he got into some sort of argument outside…but-'_

A tremendous pounding noise ruptured Near's concentrated thought. The noise was rocketing along the hallway like a freight train over a railway track. He was beginning to feel anxious – Near considered locking his door, but he realised that it was already too late.

_'It's heading toward this room…'_

Mello kicked Near's door open and slammed it shut with his elbow, cursing as he hurt his elbow in the process.

Near stared at the intruder with barely veiled surprise, _'It's the gardener.'_

Mello didn't bother with trivialities, "Who the hell is that L guy, and why did he want to see you?"

Near wondered whether he should answer his question or not.

The white-haired boy quickly decided that ignoring this person would make him more enraged than he already appeared to be – something which Near wanted to avoid at all costs.

"He's my teacher; a friend of the Yagami family." Near explained calmly.

Mello's body went lax for a moment, and he looked at the ceiling in thought. But then his face contorted in rage, and he clenched his teeth, glaring at Near.

"People like you disgust me!" He roared, raising a fisted hand into the air, "Smug in your secure little lives; not willing to leave your quaint manors that are tended to day and night by people like me, people who you have deprived of any luxuries just so that you can enjoy your own!"

Near's heart hammered relentlessly against his ribcage. The possibility that this man would attack him was high, and Near saw no way to escape.

'_There must be some way to pacify him.'_ He thought.

Mello violently jabbed a finger into his own chest and yelled, "I have to stay up late into the night studying to learn anything! And if that ass Yagami didn't have a library, I would be denied even that!"

Near knew this was his only chance –if he didn't act now, this madman would no doubt start attacking him.

"You stay up to study?" He asked quickly.

Mello stopped and stared at Near in confusion, shocked into silence by the sudden question.

Near felt triumphant, _'Now I've got him.'_

Near's victory was short lived, however. The blonde boy stomped up to him, bearing down upon him as he snarled "You think that, because I'm a servant, I don't study? What, do you think I'm too stupid?"

Near was desperate now, his breathing was ragged, and he could feel his eyes widening in fear.

"Not at all," he began, trying as hard as he could to improvise well, "it just seems that it would take a great deal of dedication to study after working hard during the day. I wanted to say that I don't think that I could do that, and that I respect you for working so hard."

Mello pulled Near onto his feet by the neck of his pyjamas; the servant's hot, shallow breaths blew against Near's skin.

"You're fucking lying."

Near's heart felt like it would explode out of his chest. He readied himself for whatever physical damage Mello was about to inflict upon him.

Mello paused for a moment, frowning in contemplation, "You think I'm going to hurt you, don't you?"

Mello stared into Near's eyes with an intense seriousness.

He slowly brought Near's face to within an inch of his own, and murmured harshly, "Well you're wrong."

Near was completely lost for words.

The boy abruptly let go of Near's pyjamas; the white-haired boy's knees jarred as his feet struck the carpeted floor.

Mello walked over to the bedroom door and yanked it open. He turned to face Near once more, and said bearishly, "-and don't you _ever_ refer to me, or even _think_ of me as 'that servant'; the name's Mello and you're to call me nothing else. I'm not some nondescript slave to be ordered around by indolent fools like you, who have more money than sense. Understand?"

Near nodded.

"Don't even bother telling me your name, Near; Light yammered about you to himself so much last night I wouldn't be surprised if the whole of fucking Winchester knew who you were by now."

Mello then stormed out of the room, slamming the door before Near could even respond to him.

Near sighed in relief; he had never encountered such an aggressive person before in his entire life – which was, admittedly, only sixteen years in length.

He fell back onto his bed, trying to release the tension created by the amalgam of the difficult social situations he'd just endured.

He then realised that he didn't know why that person, Mello, had even bothered to come into his room.

'_Did the prospect of a person coming to see me really bother him that much?'_

Near closed his eyes, grabbing his bear from the top of the bed and bringing it close to his chest. He squeezed it tightly.

_'…And did he say that Light was talking about me? To whom was Light talking… was it really himself, as Mello said?'_

Near sighed wearily and closed his eyes_. 'I just don't understand anything anymore… I feel so lost… so out of control…'_

He was reminded of his coach journey up to Winchester; and those were memories that he didn't want to dwell on.

_'Father… why did you have to die? Now that you're gone, things seem to be making less and less sense… I used to be so sure of myself before, but now… I guess it's because this is a new home – no one could possibly be expected to adjust to somewhere new so quickly. I know you'd understand…'_

A tear ran down Near's pale cheek.

He opened his eyes, looking up toward the ceiling. _'I know you'd understand father… I only wish I could.'_

-

Mello sat in the musty, cobweb-ridden attic that was his room. Light always referred to it as the servant's room – Mello always told him to go and fuck himself.

He'd gone into Near's room to ask about L –that guy had pissed him off big time, and he'd needed to let out some steam, _badly_.

But, as usual for people who associate with Yagami, Near had caused him to be even more pissed than he had been in the first place.

What had really irritated him was the fucking compliment Near had given him.

He'd clearly been lying – Mello didn't know why Near even bothered – well, actually, he did; the white-haired kid hadn't wanted Mello to hurt him.

Mello had never had any intentions of hurting him – then again, nor had he had any intentions of grabbing him by the shirt, either.

His emotions always got the better of him in the end, whether he intended to act on them or not. They'd always said that at the orphanage, too.

'_Bastards…'_ Mello thought bitterly, _'those child-prisons are the worst form of torture.'_

Mello wrapped his hand around the cross he wore around his neck. It had been given to him when he had first come to the orphanage; it was meant to inspire faith in God, but it only reminded Mello of how much he hated the orphanage and everyone in it.

'_They always thought I was weak…' _Mello gripped the cross more tightly_. 'I was never good enough for them. Never. I was either too loud or too quiet. If I did well, and started to ask for harder work, they complained that I was questioning their teachings – if I didn't do well for some reason, they would punish me by denying me food.'_

He started grinding his teeth – a habit he had developed courtesy of his days in the orphanage.

'_I hope they _rot_ in the hell they feared so much…'_

Mello leaned against the dilapidated wooden walls and sighed, _'Today has been one hell of a shit day.'_

-

Light walked down the busy streets of Winchester, basking in the afternoon sun; he'd had a very successful meeting with various members of Northern England's aristocracy. They had collectively agreed to fund a person of their choice to be Mayor; chosen exclusively from their own social cesspool, of course.

Light hated them. They were all hedonistic old perverts who wanted nothing more than to have enough power to satiate their lust without being punished for it. Often Light felt like he was the only person among them who was actually concerned with the morality of politics.

That's why he had taken matters into his own hands.

If they would not act to change things, Light would have to manoeuvre them into position himself – whether they realised what he was doing or not. Most of them lacked any form of intelligence, so Light didn't suppose it would be difficult.

The first part of his plan was, of course, to become Mayor. The second part was to gain public trust, before gaining the trust of the members of parliament. From there, changing the laws would be easy.

There would be some opposition, but if they needed to be quashed for the greater good, then it would be done. Progression naturally entails difficult decisions, and Light was prepared to take responsibility for any that should arise.

_'Anyone who wants crime and debauchery to infest Great Britain doesn't deserve to live among the good-natured, innocent citizens anyway.'_

He could see his home now – he wasn't very attached to it, but he did like it to be clean.

_'I'm not an animal – I have no desire to live like one.'_

He walked up to the front door and unlocked it. The lobby was empty; the clock chimed 11pm, it's sonorous tones reverberating through Light's entire body.

He smiled – he had always liked that clock.

After listening to all eleven chimes, Light strode up the staircase toward his bedroom.

Light proceeded up to his room and felt along the doorknob on his bedroom door; it was moist.

_'…I can only assume that Mello tried to enter my room again… Well, at least if he ever did, I'd know – I doubt that Mello would have the intelligence to put everything back exactly as it was should he search through my room.'_

Light unlocked the bedroom door and walked in. He quickly scanned the room for any slight changes.

Finding none at first glance, he placed his briefcase down on the carpet and closed the door –which locked automatically- before heading downstairs to the kitchen.

Light briefly wondered how Near was settling in. More specifically, he wondered if Mello had harassed him in some way.

_'After the death of his father, the last thing Near needs is Mello throwing a tantrum in his face.'_

Light had never got along with his brother, so his passing had far from upset him. However, he had felt sorry for his nephew when he'd first heard of Aiko's death.

_'Aiko had it coming… but his son doesn't deserve to suffer as well…'_

Light pushed the thoughts of his brother from his mind and unlocked the kitchen door –most rooms that he chose to spend time in were locked off, and the kitchen was no exception.

_'The possibility of Mello coming into possession of any of the knives in this kitchen doesn't even bear thinking about.'_

Light walked in, the refreshingly clean smell filling his nostrils. He breathed in deeply, relishing every bit of his experience. He then exhaled, stretching his arms out to his side – his spotlessly clean worktops reflected his suit perfectly- before strolling over to his single, wide kitchen window, admiring his domain as he went.

He was blasted out of his reverie when he saw the footprints on the worktop. They were just below the window. On top of that, the window was open.

Light frowned, suddenly understanding what it all meant.

"You acted quickly, Ryuzaki." Light grinned, pulling open a cabinet next to the window and removing various brightly coloured vials of liquid, "I guess I'm just going to have to be that much quicker."

-

Mello picked a dead moth up off of the floor and chucked it across the room.

The blonde boy sighed, _'I can't believe I spend every day doing this shit. Is my life really so pointless? I deserve more… I've given enough for fuck sake…'_

Mello didn't like it when he felt depressed; he felt like all of his energy had been sucked through the floor into a void – his limbs felt like lead weights, and doing anything seemed difficult.

No shit about it – he hated living in Winchester with Light; detested it with every fibre of his being.

He would leave, he had seriously considered it more times than he had bothered to count – but Light knew almost everyone in Winchester, and it wouldn't take long for Light to find out where he'd been… if that happened…

Mello laughed bitterly – a harsh bark of a laugh; if Light really did find him, he couldn't make Mello suffer any more than he already was, cooped up inside a dusty attic on his own, with nothing but a letter from a friend for company.

It was the letters that kept him from leaving. If he left, Watari, Matt's personal courier, wouldn't know where to find him.

_'Matt… why the hell won't you let me stay with you, instead?'_

Mello often wondered why Matt kept refusing that request; sometimes he thought it was because Matt didn't really care all that much about him; at other times, he'd think that it was because Matt didn't want to put Mello in danger –it all depended upon his mood.

He decided that he was going to read through Matt's most recent letter again. Matt always seemed to help him make sense of things.

The blonde liked how Matt didn't judge him by his social standing; but he didn't really expect elitism from Matt, a self-professed anarchist.

He crouched down next to his single pillow -a luxurious treat compared to the rags that were his bed and covers, and put his hand underneath it. He felt the crumpled paper that was Matt's letter and pulled it out.

He sat down and carefully unfolded the letter, reading it as he did.

_Dear Mello,_

_Don't you think 'Dear Mello' sounds a bit pretentious? I do, so I'm sure you won't mind me dropping the 'Dear' and replacing it with 'What's up?' instead next time I write to you._

_I've been well, even though you didn't ask me in your last letter (I didn't expect you to, Mells, so I'm not disappointed). I'm glad to hear that Light has decided to hole himself up in his kitchen instead of bugging you all day – that man makes me sick – can I even call him a man? He sounds like a machine in his obsession with order and perfection. Does he honestly believe that he can prevent himself from suffering pain by controlling the world with his ridiculous 'order'? It's pathetic, really._

_Watari tells me that you look well. I'm glad, because, if I'm honest, I wouldn't be surprised if that monster decided to poison you one day out of spite – I'd recommend you take note of what he feeds you, Mello, though he probably lacks the common decency to feed you properly._

_I'd invite you to come down and see me, only I know that it would be too dangerous for too many people to be seen coming into base right now. I sincerely apologise Mells, I'm honestly trying to free you from that prison somehow, I just need something to come up, something good._

_It felt like Christmas this morning Mello, I managed to rob a deliveryman who had Twleve pounds worth of Brazil nuts! I'll be eating well tonight – I've asked Watari to give you some when you next see him, because, if anyone deserves something pleasant Mells, it's you._

_Until next time buddy,_

_Yours insincerely,_

_Matt_

Mello chewed on his finger, staring at the misspelled word,'Twleve'.

_'He hasn't misspelled a word in all the letters he's ever written to me. He must have had one hell of a distraction when he wrote this one.'_

Mello supposed that a dedicated Anarchist wouldn't be the kind of guy to have a lot of time on his hands in the first place.

He was going to visit Watari tomorrow – he waited in the back alleys behind Yagami's mansion from 12:00 till 12:30 – Mello made sure that he always turned up on time to collect his letters, because, God knows, now more than ever, he needed someone to talk to.

'_God damn it Matt… where are you…?'_

-

L waded through the long grass toward the abandoned groundskeeper's building. He had his shoes on –he'd made sure to put them on before he left for the Yagami household. That said, he never kept them on when he was inside – he hated footwear with a passion.

The sun was setting behind the trees – L was grateful that a building was abandoned in such a good location – a short walk through the underground sewer tunnels next to the Yagami household brought one to the peripheries of Winchester. This far from the city centre, one could walk for miles and see only 2 or 3 houses at most. Matt was right to have chosen this as headquarters.

L reached the dilapidated building, climbing in through a broken window like a spider crawling over an insignificant twig.

Matt was already on his feet; L supposed that Matt must have been watching him walk through the grass.

Matt got straight to the point, "Do you think Light fell for it?"

L put his thumb to his mouth, pondering over the question. "I'm almost certain that he did. Even if he suspected me of deliberately making myself known, he wouldn't take the chance of letting my operations continue uninhibited. If we wait, it is highly likely that he will make a mistake whilst trying to outwit us, giving us the opening we need to gather evidence against him, and finally put a stop to his actions."

Matt grinned; he couldn't believe how right L had been.

'_Soon Light Yagami'_, he thought with glee, _'soon you'll get what's coming to you, you bastard.'_

--

_Thanks for reading this! I'll be updating within the next week, but then I'll be on holiday, so I can't guarantee I'll be adding chapter 4 within a week of chapter 3._

_Thanks again! I hope you enjoyed the fanfiction!_

_-Insanitoon_


	3. Revelation

A/N: Sorry that this is a bit late! I overestimated the speed of my writing XD I'm quite pleased with this chapter, though some parts didn't turn out as I had hoped.

I hope you enjoy it, but let me know what you think even if you don't!

-

Chapter 3: 

Light held the knife in his hands – its stainless blade gleamed hungrily in the morning sunlight. He sliced swiftly and surely, cleanly chopping the carrot into even segments.

'_I'm sure Near will enjoy my soup.' _He thought, smirking.

Light picked a small grey lump of metal off of the worktop. He held it in front of the window – gazing at it as the light reflected off of its smooth, irregular surface.

He dropped the lead into a pot of boiling hot water that sat next to the vegetables he had yet to slice.

He dropped the chopped carrot into the pot, stirring it for good measure.

'_You must be confident to have made your move already, Ryuzaki.'_ He mused, feeling faintly smug.

'_However, despite how confident you may be, you aren't going to confront me directly –at least, not yet. To do so would make you look a fool –especially since you have no evidence to prove that I killed Aiko.'_

He picked up a tomato and set it down in front of him.

'_I'm not sure whether you are working on this by yourself, or with some sort of cohort, possibly even a group of people as foolish and dogged as you are.'_

He slowly raised his knife into the air, contemplating how red Ryuzaki's blood would be if the knife were jammed into his throat.

He chided himself for losing focus, and concentrated on the tomato.

'…_Anyway, regardless of whom you're working with, you won't be able to stop me…'_

Light slammed the knife down, chopping the tomato in two.

_'…No matter how determined you are.'_

He brought it down again with equal force, chopping the tomato into quarters.

'_You must be feeling quite pleased with yourself after having infiltrated this, the most modest of my private estates. But I'm not going to simply allow you to saunter into here unobstructed –I'm almost certain that you expect me to hire guards –but, whether you expected it or not, you will gain nothing out of an increase in security around my mansion –you were a fool to provoke me.'_

Light stirred the stew with a wooden spoon. The lead banged against the sides of iron pot.

_'My allies in the aristocracy shall see that the best guardsmen available are under my employment –men as intelligent as you, Ryuzaki –though you are clearly far more of an idiot than I had previously believed. By stating your intentions so obviously, you have only made your task that much more difficult.'_

He pulled picked up some radishes, pulling their leaves off quickly and cleanly.

'_I'm sure you've already tried to get information out of Near,'_ Light thought, exultation rising within him, _'but he doesn't have any information to relate to you in the first place.'_

Light was grinning now; the feeling of victory had risen from his stomach, straight up through his oesophagus and into his head, where it currently resided, feeding energy into him like a pulsating heart.

_'Even today, when you may be expecting him to feel ill, he will not have any illness to speak about when you come to see him.'_

Light dropped the radishes into the water with a flourish, spinning the contents with such vigour that a small whirlpool formed in the middle of the now lukewarm water. The lead went from side to side in the metal pot, clattering and clanging in a cacophonous din that echoed throughout the whole kitchen.

Light's glory was brutally and abruptly castrated by a sudden thought –_ 'Is Near aware of Ryuzaki's intentions...?'_

He had stopped stirring the stew; Light cogitated upon the intrusive thought for some time –searching his memory for anything Near might have said, anything that had seemed odd or out of place inside his room –anything that might explain his relationship with Ryuzaki. He couldn't remember seeing anything of the sort.

'_I'm certain that he has interacted with Near… He wouldn't have let such a chance pass by.'_

Light gripped the spoon so tightly that his knuckles became white.

_'I'm sure that no one related to the Yagami family would have been left uninformed. Ryuzaki… he would have been informed as our other cousins would have been… That must be how he knows…'_

Light had never liked his family –to him, they all lacked proper decency; they were far too unconventional and radical for his liking.

That was why he had killed Aiko in the first place –a man with as much money and land as he had was a powerful man, and that kind of power could be deleterious in the wrong hands.

Light had felt pushed to poison Aiko –he had seen no other way to secure the safety of Great Britain.

He frowned, _'I will not let this great nation be destroyed by Anarchists such as him.'_

He stirred the contents of the pot idly, his face stern in concentration.

_'I must know the extent of Ryuzaki's relationship with Near; the boy's father has just died, and anything Ryuzaki says could turn him against me.'_

Light began to slice an onion. The harsh chopping noises resonating in expansive the kitchen.

_'I shall ask Near about his day – if he is unaware of Ryuzaki's true motivation for coming here, he's almost certain to mention him; however, if Ryuzaki has already talked to him about me, then he is unlikely to mention Ryuzaki in any way.'_

Light lifted the lead out of the pot with the wooden spoon. He carefully dropped the lump of metal into a bin in the corner of the kitchen; he didn't want to damage his immaculate floor tiling.

'_Ryuzaki is trying to attack me directly this time…'_ Light dropped the spoon into the kitchen sink.

'_That pernicious rebel cannot be allowed to fester in the underbelly of Britain any longer –I shall see to his end personally.'_

Light ran a hand through his neat hair, and resumed preparing Near's breakfast.

-

It was 8 am now –at least, that's the clock told him. It was one of the first things that he had asked Watari to get after they had chosen the old groundskeeper's building as their base. He supposed that Watari would only just be waking up at this time.

Ryuzaki had succeeded in resisting the siren's call to sleep – he did so every night, though sometimes his mind would falter and go crashing into unconsciousness like the proverbial ship into the rocks.

He'd been thinking about Light since yesterday.

He hated Light. The idiot clumsily stomped on the skulls of his fellow Britons to achieve petty, mundane goals; such as pleasing the aristocratic scum that were dwelling in England. A mindless, power-hungry fool such as he deserved no more respect than was afforded to the most abhorrent of criminals; both were deliberately walking into their own doom.

It just so happened, on this occasion, that Light was going to meet his.

But he was running out of time – his calculations were never incorrect. He knew Light wouldn't hesitate to poison Near; and if he succeeded in doing that, he would have wiped out every member of the Yagami family that could ever have been a threat to him.

_'Except for me; I am all that stands between his current state, and his goal of complete control over England.'_

He'd suspected Light of having such ill intentions for many years –he simply hadn't had enough evidence to be completely sure that it was Light. That had all changed when Aiko died.

Aiko had been at an informal family dinner at one of Light Yagami's larger properties –it was situated just outside of Bournemouth. Ryuzaki had been invited along with his parents, most likely out of courtesy, as Light had always been cold to Ryuzaki.

He had served the same food to every guest. They all had vegetable soup for starters, Duck as a main course, and homemade cake for dessert. Aiko died before he even finished the main course.

Ryuzaki had immediately suspected Light –but he couldn't work out how Light had killed Aiko. Light had served the same food to every guest, and Aiko had not seen Light before the dinner.

Ryuzaki had started to doubt himself; but he decided to take a closer look at each of Aiko's dishes –Aiko Yagami was notorious for leaving food on his plate. In hindsight, Ryuzaki thought Light might have considered that when acting out his plan –Light didn't even clean out the bowl after he had taken what remained of the starters into the kitchen.

He'd found what he'd been looking for – small granules of lead had collected together and formed into a large blob. Ryuzaki quickly took it away –Quillish was an expert Geologist, if anyone could analyse a rock, it would be him.

Quillish looked at it under his microscope and thought about his observations –he quickly realised that it wasn't an edible substance. When he heard that Aiko had suffered severe vomiting and diarrhoea before he died, Quillish had simply said "Lead."

Light owned various mines, including lead mines. No one else at the dinner owned anything relating to lead; Ryuzaki suspected Light even more –no, Light was the only person he considered a real suspect.

He hadn't shared his evidence with the other members of the Yagami family –he doubted that they would co-operate with his plans at all; and even if they did, the effectiveness of their co-operation was equally dubious.

No, he had decided to attempt to solve this case with only a few associates; he had felt completely confident in his decision, and in his ability to capture Light and prevent any further murders.

Until now.

He stared at the manor house on the horizon – it belonged to a particularly lazy and tight-pursed aristocrat. Ryuzaki was grateful that the Duke of Edinburgh didn't care about maintaining his grounds –or, indeed, the building of his since-retried groundskeeper.

He frowned; he knew that Light could have already fed Near a lethal amount of toxins. He knew it; and he knew that he was powerless to stop it. Ryuzaki felt impotent in the dilapidated groundskeeper's building; it was a feeling that he didn't wish to become regularly acquainted with.

He looked to the blue skies, and for the first time since he had started acting as a private detective, he felt unsure.

He hoped that he was faster than Light.

-

Near opened his eyes; he rubbed his head before stretching his arms languorously.

He turned his head and looked at the bedside table; the lamp was unlit –its bronze carcass shone dully in the dim room.

He turned on his side to look out of the window, outside, a flurry of white particles stormed past it on a howling gust of wind.

'_It's snowing…?'_ he thought with faint surprise.

Near loved watching snow, but he never went out in it. He had only been out in it once, when he was eight years old.

He had been standing in the kitchen with his father, staring out of a thickly glazed window on his kitchen door. Through those windows, the garden always appeared to be a large green blur with an occasional grey spot where the statues and fountains were, but on that day it had simply been white –even the stone statues had been invisible.

Near had looked up at his father, wondering how much more could be seen through the thinner, clearer windows high up on the kitchen wall.

His father had turned his head away from the kitchen window and toward Near -Near could see his father so vividly in his mind –his blue eyes were always so full of energy, so alive. Then his father had crouched down on his haunches, opening his arms wide in invitation.

His father had smiled then, a smile that filled his entire face with bright joy and said, "Isn't it wondrous Near?"

Near could remember feeling the smile find its way along his mouth –it had felt natural, as if being around someone as happy as his father impelled you to feel that same sense of wonder; even if only for a moment.

He had walked into his father's arms, which instantly wrapped themselves around him –his father arms were like those of a great ape, but Aiko held him as if he were a delicate flower. He had felt secure in those arms, and that security hadn't left him, even when he had felt his feet leave the ground, and even as the kitchen whizzed past him as he was carried out into the garden.

The cold, January air had swiped at him viciously, stinging his face with its icy tendrils and causing him to recoil in pain.

His father must have noticed, for he had placed a hand over his face to protect him, leaving just enough space so that Near could still see what was ahead of him clearly.

After being carried a few paces forward, the massive garden had come into full view.

Near had never forgotten that moment.

He could remember it as clearly as if it had been only hours ago. The grass had been a glistening white blanket, snow had rested softly atop the trees and bushes, and the statues had worn crystalline apparel that had shone in the morning sun. All of this whilst resting safely and warmly in his father's arms.

He plummeted back to reality, the realisation stiffened his body; Near tensed his face so much that it was painful.

'_Why!?'_ He thought, his chest feeling hollow despite the thumping of his heart.

Tears began to stream down his face, _'Why did you die…?I need you father –I'm so afraid without you; this place feels so threatening… so foreign.'_

Near's cries became sobs, and he tossed himself onto his back.

_'You're gone… but I don't want you to be gone…'_

He pulled at his white hair savagely, feeling the follicles tear out of his head. He whimpered and pulled his stuffed bear closer to him.

'_I love you father…'_ he thought, nuzzling his head against his toy bear.

The wind wailed dolefully outside –Near pulled the blanket over his head, trying to block out the noise. But to no avail, the cries of the winter storm penetrated his mind nonetheless, their sorrowful cries echoing his sobs in a lugubrious chorus.

_'Please come back… don't leave me here…'_

Near felt so tense, he just wanted to stop feeling so trapped, so alone, so afraid –he couldn't handle all of those emotions alone, especially not in the strange and alien mansion that he was staying in.

_'I want to return to those times when we would be in the garden together –to those days when you would hold me… when things didn't seem so threatening, and painful…'_

He huddled himself up into a ball, pulling the bed covers over his head so that they cocooned him within their soft layers; he could feel his heart beating steadily in his chest. The weakened sunlight trickled in through the window and onto his covers – shrouded beneath them, the light appeared as a soft glow to Near.

He could feel his own, small breaths rebound off of the mattress and back onto his face. His tears rolled slowly down his pallid cheeks –but Near made no attempt to stop them; he simply hugged his knees, silently wishing that things had turned out differently, wishing that his father hadn't died.

'_This feeling refuses to leave me alone -why? Why does it insist upon returning at every possible opportunity?'_

He felt pathetic, _'Why do my emotions suddenly have such control over me?'_ he thought, balling his hands into fists.

_'Why am I so weak? What is it that is fracturing my normally clear mind? Why can't I release this wretched emotion!?'_

He wanted to get off of the bed, to leave the room and be rid of whatever it was that was dissolving his mental composure so quickly –but he couldn't. His emotions had decided that this was their chance, and had seen fit to hail down upon him in his moment of weakness; Pandora's box had been opened, and now he was feeling the full force of its contents.

He had never felt such incredible frustration before in his life. He beat the bed with his white-knuckled fists, thrashing about like a fish torn out of the sea and onto the fisherman's ship.

_'What is wrong with me!?'_

He sat up, pulling at his hair and becoming acquainted with the feeling of his hair being torn out once again.

Then Near stopped, realising just how much his emotions had escalated. He was panting now; sweat covered every part of his body, and his head throbbed as if it had been beaten repeatedly with an iron rod.

He collapsed back onto his bed with a sigh, his heavy sobs dwindling to tears, and then finally disappearing altogether.

He felt numb. He didn't feel connected to reality any more. Who was he, really? What was he becoming, what was happening to him that made him go into bursts of frustration and turmoil?

'_Who am I now?'_ He mused absently.

He couldn't focus long enough to ponder that question, and this scared him most of all. He pushed himself upright in an attempt to clear his head; breathing in short sharp breaths. He closed his eyes –he was finding it difficult to feel anything now, but fortunately it was becoming easier and easier to think.

_'What is going on? This has never happened before…'_

He preferred this state to his previous one; at least his thoughts weren't interrupted by sudden emotion.

'_Is this what it feels like to mourn for someone? It is such an awful feeling.'_

Near held his head in his hands_. _

'_It is such a disturbing reaction to someone's death –something routine and normal in the world. Destruction and creation are always occurring; so why is it that I find my father's destruction so painful? I loved him dearly, and that must be the reason why, but…'_

He rubbed his head, _'Though that makes sense, I don't understand it. I've never allowed my emotions to dictate my actions or affect my thoughts, but these ones do –furthermore, these particular emotions seem to elude my attempts to incorporate them into my understanding. It's as if someone implanted them into my mind, rather than my mind producing them itself.'_

Near could feel his emotions beginning to return-he tensed; he didn't want to fall back into the volatile state he had been in earlier.

_'I need to neutralise this abhorrent cycle.'_

Near remembered yesterday, when he had been walking over to the window, and the frosty air that had assaulted his body.

He frowned, and then leapt out of his bed. The coldness once again bit into his flesh, tearing at his limbs and instantly rending the heat from his being; he gasped in shock.

He stood there for a moment, cringing as his body heat was steadily consumed until eventually, the iciness retreated and he was left standing in his room, shivering violently as if someone were forcefully shaking his body.

Near watched the snow twist and turn outside the window, grimacing, _'There, now these feelings have no power over me.'_

His pyjamas brushed against his thin, knobbly hands. He stared at the grey clouds on the horizon, behind the many buildings in Winchester. They sailed across the sky slowly and surely, like great ships across the sea. Near heaved a ragged sigh.

_'The longer I stay in this room, the more my mental state will deteriorate.'_

He moved closer to the window and looked outside. The ledge in front of it was covered in snow –small mounds had built up in its corners.

He looked down at the small, neat garden. The perfectly even hedges looked like the walls of a snow fortress, and the trees jutted out of the ground like gun towers. The fountain had iced over, and a garden statue had become a barely recognisable blob under the snow.

He wanted to go out into the garden, to see the snow again himself. He supposed that it must have been a desire for some sort of catharsis, because he expected nothing but more painful memories from such a decision. Yet he felt the urge to go out there nonetheless.

'_But I can't. Leaving this room is, for some reason, emotionally impossible for me.'_

Near turned to look at the bedroom door; he could feel the apprehension rising in his throat.

'_I can't, but I must… what am I going to do?'_

The door handle gleamed menacingly; Near could almost hear it taunting him, challenging him to put his hand to its cold steel body and open the door.

Near turned away, looking out of the window again instead. He remembered what happened yesterday with the gardener –Mello, rather. He wondered whether Mello would go out in the snow today; but dismissed that idea as quickly as it had arisen; gardening with the snow as thick as it was would be impossible.

In a way, this disappointed Near –Mello was the only person he interacted with apart from his Uncle, Light, even though his interactions with Mello hadn't thus far been positive.

He still liked Mello despite how aggressive the gardener had been –there was a certain genuine quality about Mello that Light seemed to lack, and Near liked that.

It meant that, if nothing else, he could probably trust Mello to be fairly honest with him.

But not completely -he doubted that Mello would say anything that could give someone else, especially someone from a powerful family, a chance to use his feelings against him.

It struck him then, how very alone he was at that moment. He stayed in his room all day, seeing only three people who came to him –and even then, only for short periods of time, if at all.

He was completely alone, and he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it.

Near then turned around to face the rest of his room; he noticed a plate of food sitting on a table near the door.

_'How did that get there…? I didn't notice it earlier… but then again I was hardly in an observant state of mind at that time.'_

But he didn't remember it being there last night, and no one came into the room after he had woken up.

_'It must have been brought in while I was asleep, but that means that someone unlocked my bedroom door.'_

Near twirled his hair between his fingers –it was painful, but it was the only way that he could think clearly.

_'…Light… Uncle Light… he's the only person who could possibly have such a key… unless Mello stole it from him.'_

He pulled his hair with greater force; his scalp screamed in agony.

_'__Though I doubt he would do something so audacious just to deliver my breakfast to me; he spoke only yesterday of how much he resents what he called the 'indolence' of the upper classes. I can only assume that it was Uncle Light.'_

Near felt light-headed; someone invading the bedroom during his sleep –his only sanctuary in the massive dwelling place- unnerved him greatly.

_'Where can I be safe? Is there any place in this hollow corpse of a mansion where I can be protected from other people?'_

He doubted it.

Near scratched his head and walked over to the plate of food. He couldn't smell it –his sense of smell had never been particularly good- but it looked quite nice, and he supposed that it was safe; after all, what reason would Light have to harm him –and through his food of all places?

'_I'm becoming paranoid.'_ The white-haired boy noticed.

Near decided that he needed the energy; he picked up the soup, and sat down on his bed to eat it.

-

The library was as dark as usual. The shadows had chosen to drape themselves in the far corner where Mello sat in the Library, but the capricious bastards would move all around the musty literary graveyard before the sun set. Mello didn't particularly give a shit, but he noticed them nonetheless.

Today wasn't a good day for Mello in the slightest. He had been feeling about as upbeat as a cow's turd all morning, and the prospects didn't appear to be looking up for the rest of the day, either.

It was because of the encounter with Near the day before. Though Mello didn't think it was entirely that incident that had caused him to feel so shit. He hadn't been feeling fine and dandy for a long time –for almost his entire stay in Yagami's prize pumpkin of a mansion, he had felt the same –shit, shit and shit. He was a man of variety, after all.

What was his life? He spent every day at the beck and call of the world's biggest ass, and he had no friends other than Matt, who might well be a fake set up by Light anyway.

Sometimes he wondered why he bothered with anything.

Mello sighed; he had no one to talk to now -not that he'd had anyone to begin with.

_'Man, why do I have to realise how isolated I am at a time like this? Does my mind hate me, or does it think this is some kind of sick joke? Because, frankly, I'm not finding it funny.'_

That's what bothered him about what happened with Near yesterday. He hadn't been made aware of how alone he really was until Light had stopped ordering him about all the time –instead choosing to spend his entire day cooking whatever shit he was going to feed to Near.

On top of that, Near had confused him –on the one hand, that white-haired kid had been gawking at him like a moron –which was irritating. But on the other hand, Near had complimented him –the first time he'd ever been complimented without being criticised straight afterwards.

But Mello would give him time to change all that. He could be patient when he wanted to be.

_'He probably doesn't give a shit about me –he doesn't even know me. I bet he won't even be looking out of that Goddamned window if I went outside right now.'_

Not that he gave a shit –he'd survived on his own up till now, and he would continue to do so, whether he felt isolated or not. The only problem was that he didn't really believe any of that bullshit.

_'It's not like I have a choice –no one from the Yagami family can be trusted, no one. I have no reason to trust Near any more than I do Light –so I won't.'_

Doubt gnawed at his resolve like a termite through wood. Mello ground his teeth together and then suddenly stood up from his chair.

'_I need to stop thinking –thinking isn't helping me right now.'_

Mello shook himself to clear his head, walking out of the Library and into the Lobby. He stepped into the large room just in time to see Light stride out of the front door.

_'He's leaving earlier than usual; probably going to speak to the other likeminded 'upper class' nitwits whom he enjoys spending so much time with.'_

He meandered past the stairs and into a hallway. Mello didn't particularly care about where it led to at the moment; he just wanted to do something –anything, to get his mind off of his situation.

Mello dragged his feet noisily across the carpeted floor, listening to the wind whine outside. He'd noticed that it had been snowing earlier that morning –when you wake up shivering it's natural to wonder what the weather is like outside.

He wandered towards the door that led into the garden; its glazed wood had a dull sheen –perfectly maintained by none other than Mello himself.

He snorted, _'Light constantly whines about keeping the house clean, but he's so fucking lazy that he'd probably complain about wiping down even one door, let alone both sides of all twenty-five doors in this godforsaken place.'_

Despite how much he resented the housework he had to do, he was also rather proud of it. No one else could possibly do the job as well as he could; normally it gave him a sense of identity, and purpose –but today it only served to make him feel like a worthless tool –a rusty shovel to be discarded once its usefulness ran out.

Mello viciously kicked the door; it swung open with a wavering creak. As if invited in, a gust blew snow into the corridor. Mello stared at it blankly for a moment, before turning to look out of the open door.

The garden was a mass of hills and mountainous mounds of snow. Mello couldn't see anything through the white blur of snow particles being blown to and fro in wind.

Mello shrugged mentally, _'Well, I've got nothing better to do.'_

He stepped out into garden; snowflakes swiftly swarmed him, covering his body in a layer of white powder. He tried to look around, but could see nothing through the flurries of snow; he looked back over his shoulder –he could only just see the garden door behind him.

He looked upwards -the window Near had been watching him from the other day was an obtrusive black maw in the white haze of the snow.

At first, he didn't notice anything but the shadowy silhouette of the window, but then he saw something move within the darkness, something other than the snow that blustered around him.

_'What is he doing by the window?'_

He continued to gaze into the arch-shaped void, and noticed that the white object was even more prominent against the empty backdrop than before.

He stared at the white shape for a long time –it didn't move away, like the snow did, which reaffirmed what he had thought in the first place.

_'It's definitely Near; is he staring me… again?'_

A tremendous grey cloud passed overhead like a warship; its sombre presence cast the whole garden into darkness. The window and the wall became one indistinguishable mass, but Mello could see the white person looking down at him – he could almost see Near's dull eyes behind the glass.

He was beginning to feel disturbed –why did Near insist on staring at him, didn't he understand how rude and unnerving it was?

_'Maybe he's trying to unnerve me deliberately…'_

Mello felt like someone was playing tug of war with his head. He felt angry that he was being stared at, but he also felt strangely pleased for some reason.

'_Why am I pleased that I'm being stared at!?'_ Mello ground his teeth together. _'Why is he staring at me in the first place!? You know what? Fuck this –I'm going to go and find out myself.'_

Mello stormed through the snowy confusion and back into the mansion.

He charged through the corridors and straight up the stairs.

'_God this kid is annoying.'_ He thought.

'_Did Light ask him to spy on me…? No, that can't be it –he did it the morning after he arrived here, and I don't remember hearing him talk to Light. Then again, he does seem like the quiet type.'_

Mello rocketed across the landing towards the door to Near's room.

_'Does he get some kind of sick pleasure from watching me? Like one of those disgusting voyeurs that you read about in the newspapers?'_

Mello stomped his feet audibly as he came closer and closer to Near's door.

_'I fucking hope not –that would be some sick shit.'_

He pounded a fist against the door four times in quick succession upon finally reaching it. There was no answer. Mello tried to open the door, but it was locked.

_'Damn it.'_

"Near," he began, "let me in."

The only sound that could be heard was the wind blowing against the walls of the mansion.

Mello sighed, "I'm not going to hurt you Near…" he said; and he meant it –he wasn't a common thug, and he had no intentions of becoming one; only the foolish resorted to random violence in place of intelligent plans.

The door remained locked.

"Look," Mello started, trying to keep his voice calm, "I just wanted to ask you why you keep watching me out of your window."

Something stirred in Near's room, but Mello couldn't hear anything resembling speech.

_'God damn it Near, I deserve a fucking answer, you stalking son of a bitch!'_

But Mello said, his voice cracking, "I deserve an answer, Near."

"I…" Near began, barely audible behind his bedroom door.

There was a long pause; Mello managed to retain his composure and wait patiently.

"I wanted to talk to you." Near said, his voice muffled by the thick, wooden door.

Mello hadn't been expecting that; he fumbled for an answer in an attempt to save face.

_'I look like an angry moron right now. I have to come back with something.'_

"W-Why didn't you just talk to me then?" He said, his embarrassment obvious in his stuttering voice.

'_He must be lying about wanting to talk to me, no… I know he's lying about it.'_ Mello thought, almost more to convince himself than to state a fact.

Near's voice drifted out of his room, "I guess I just wasn't brave enough…"

_'Bullshit, no way can he be telling me the truth, there's no way. But… then again, he doesn't need to lie –he's behind the door for fuck sake.'_

Mello sighed in exasperation, "Well then," he said, trying to sound as amicable as possible, "why don't you let me in, and then we can talk?"

_'Now we'll see –if he really wants to talk, he'll open the door –if he doesn't he won't open it, and then I'll know that he is my enemy. I doubt he'll open the door.'_

Mello heard the sound of the lock turning, and then the door inched open ever so slightly; allowing Mello to see one of Near's empty grey eyes.

_'No way… is he seriously opening the door? He can't be… he's going to close it now.'_

Near opened the door even further, until finally it was wide open, and he was before Mello –stark and vulnerable in his flimsy white pyjamas.

He twirled a lock of curly white hair in his fingers; his eyes bored into Mello's, their grey pupils silently analysing everything they could see.

Mello twitched unconsciously; he had been temporarily shocked into silence by Near's actions, but he quickly came back with, "I can't get in unless you move out of the way."

Near slowly moved further into the bedroom, looking back over his shoulder as he did so.

'_So you don't trust me completely then.'_ Mello mused.

Near moved to sit on the edge of his bed while Mello took a seat on a chair opposite the bed.

'_This is not what I had expected.'_

"Mello," Near began abruptly, "how long have you lived here?"

_'He sure got straight to the point.'_

"Eight years." He grunted.

Near nodded, continuing, "Does anyone else work here?"

Mello frowned, "Does it look like anyone else works here?"

Near simply stared back at him in silence.

The blonde-haired boy mumbled some obscenities under his breath and leaned his head on his hand, "Well, no, no one else works here. It's just me on my own, all fucking day and all goddamn night."

Near played with his hair.

_'Is he even fucking listening?'_

"How does it feel, to work alone all of the time?" Near said levelly.

Mello gritted his teeth, snarling "How do you think, dickwad? It's zero fun; heck, it's fucking _awful_. Your beloved Uncle, Light Yagami, is a complete asshole and a slave driver, so even when I have him for 'company', life here is still about as pleasant as a bucket full of fucking maggots."

"Mello," Near interrupted, looking out of his bedroom window, "I didn't assume that my Uncle would be a good person, nor that your life here was pleasant. I just wanted to hear it from your point of view –please don't take offence to my questions."

Mello stared back at Near, his breathing was becoming more ragged by the second, and he was grinding his teeth so harshly that he could hear them scraping against each other.

He spoke through clenched teeth, "You asked the question, not me, so don't complain when I give you my fucking answer, Near." Mello then stood up, "In fact, let me ask you a question."

Near look on placidly as Mello walked up to him.

The blonde-haired boy glared down at Near, and growled, "Why the fuck are you here?"

Near stopped twirling his hair at that question –his face dropped, and Mello thought that he saw something like melancholy in Near's usually lifeless eyes.

He stared at Near, somewhat confused by the white-haired boy's reaction. The room felt heavier all of a sudden, and Mello found himself fidgeting in discomfort.

Then Near broke the silence, his voice as matter-of-fact as if he were talking about the weather, "My Mother died when I was very young. Recently, my Father died. My Uncle Light is now my legal guardian, and so I was moved here."

Mello was surprised yet again; he didn't feel quite so angry any more –he had no idea that Near was an orphan like he was.

_'He may be an orphan, but he's not even remotely like me. He's an orphan who was properly cared for, whilst I was treated like shit by the orphanage I was caged in!'_

"I'm sorry." Mello muttered quickly, torn between animosity and sympathy.

_'I need to think.'_

Mello fumbled through his mind, searching for the right words and coming up with shit, "W-Well, anyway," he stuttered, "I've got to go… s-so, I'll speak to you later or something."

Mello scratched the back of his head in embarrassment before walking briskly out of Near's room, not stopping to close the door on the way out.

–

Ryuzaki climbed over the tall wrought iron fence of the Yagami household. It was difficult, but he was skilled enough that he succeeded in scaling it and reaching the other side unharmed. If he were honest, he'd admit that he was quite a cocky person when it came to his abilities.

Though he wasn't an honest man, so he'd never admit to being cocky.

He had chucked his muddy black shoes over the fence before scaling it -he couldn't afford to have Light see his shoes outside the house if they fell off whilst he was climbing; Light wouldn't hesitate to make climbing into the garden more difficult if he felt he needed to. So, Ryuzaki had scaled the fence and walked through the snowy garden bare-footed; his feet were now numb because of this.

_'I'd rather have numb feet than fail to implicate a plan of action correctly.'_

L walked through the corridors of Light's mansion, noticing how incredibly clean and well polished everything seemed.

'_He must be obsessed with cleanliness to have ordered Mello to clean things to such a standard.'_ Ryuzaki noted with a hint of disdain. _'As if something so petty as cleanliness is even remotely important in the greater picture.'_

L carried his shoes in his left hand –two fingers for each shoe- as he walked barefoot up the grand staircase in the Lobby.

'_For all his pretentiousness,'_ L thought matter-of-factly, _'He does have a good taste in carpets –this one is quite soft on one's feet. It'll be shame to see this burn to the ground.'_

Ryuzaki turned onto the landing.

'_Nevertheless,'_ he mused_, 'something as mundane as personal comfort…'_

Ryuzaki approached Near's door, preparing to knock on its oaken surface, _'is unimportant in the greater picture.'_

He knocked three times, and then strolled in.

-

Near had still been dealing with an increase in his emotional energy when L knocked on his door.

He had sauntered into the room and sat –if you could call what he did sitting, on the chair opposite his bed, almost exactly as he had done the day before.

He bowed grandly from his position on the chair, "Hello, Near."

Near resisted the urge to cock his head to the side in confusion and simply replied, "Hello, L."

L picked up a teacup off of the tray Near's used soup bowl sat on and filled it with tea without invitation. He then proceeded to pour an obscene amount of sugar into his cup yet again.

"How are you, Near?" He asked, his voice low and calm.

'_Awful,'_ Near thought dolefully_, 'my emotions insist on barraging me like cannon fire, and now you are behaving in ways so disturbing that I'm in a constant state of confusion.'_

"I've been well, thank you." He replied, "And yourself?"

L glanced at the used soup bowl, "I'm fine," he replied disinterestedly, "… did you eat the contents of this bowl?"

Near paused at L's odd question, before finally replying, "Yes, it was vegetable soup."

L placed the thumb of his free hand to his lips, turning his gaze to the white-haired boy in front of him, "I always find soup tastes too metallic for my liking. What did yours taste like?"

Near was perplexed by L's description of the taste of soup.

'_Metallic?'_ He pondered, bemused, _'Soup shouldn't taste metallic if it is made well and stored properly. Though admittedly this morning's soup did taste rather strange –but I would attribute that more to its sitting in this dusty bedroom rather than being made poorly –though it is possible that Uncle Light's cutlery isn't good for putting soup in.'_

"It tasted somewhat unusual, but it had been resting in my room for quite some time before I eventually ate it." Near replied.

L looked at Near, stared at him; his wide eyes seeming to bulge out of his head with the intensity of his observation.

Near looked down at his feet; feeling uncomfortable under such scrutiny.

"That's a shame, metallic soup tastes horrible." L commented abruptly.

Near's eyes remained focused on his feet.

L continued unperturbed, "Shall we begin the lesson? Today I shall teach you about political ideologies."

Near looked up – L was watching him, his eyes shining with acuity.

Near felt even more uncomfortable than he did before, he eventually managed to produce a nod.

"Good," L said, sipping his tea, apparently unaware of how uncomfortable Near felt, "I think you'll find this interesting"

-

Mello wrote fervently on the paper Watari had given to him –he would be going to meet Watari to receive Matt's most recent letter in just over half an hour. He had a lot of things that he wanted to write this time.

He wanted to tell him about Near, about how isolated he'd been feeling, he wanted –needed- to tell him everything. 'Everything' is a lot of stuff, so he was writing as much as possible as fast as possible.

'Though I'd better be careful about what I say –Light might somehow read every word I write on this piece of paper. Or worse –Matt and Light may be working together to secretly find out what I'm thinking. But I doubt that –if that were true, Light would have kicked me out a long time ago.'

Mello held the ink pen –a gift from Matt- firmly between his fingers.

_'If I told him about Near, would he see me as fraternising with the aristocrats?'_

Mello rubbed his head; his day had been the furthest thing from good, and he was feeling the wonderful after effects brought on from the stress.

_'At the worst possible fucking time, of course. Headaches are the last thing I need when I go to see Watari.'_

Mello looked at the page again.

_'I need to write this. I need to get this off of my chest.'_

Mello finished the paragraph he had been writing and placed the letter in the envelope –also provided by Watari.

Mello looked at the letter that he held in front of him,_ 'I hope he understands…'_

-

Quillish Wammy stood just off of the side of one of Winchester's main roads, waiting.

He hated the waiting. Waiting meant not getting involved, not acting –and that meant leaving the enemy to their own devices, uninhibited.

It was for this very reason that Quillish worked with Ryuzaki. For, though L's methods were often questionable, he always succeeded in what he aimed to achieve. Always. Ryuzaki had yet to have taken up a case that he failed to solve.

But Quillish worried, and worried often –will Ryuzaki come out of this alive? Will he save this person? Can he be sure that his plan will succeed? There was always something. But Quillish did not feel ashamed in the slightest; he felt like a father to L, and he saw it as perfectly reasonable to worry for someone whom you regarded as a son.

Which is why Quillish was always on the sidelines –L needed to be able to take those risks, and having Quillish make the plans and play too active a part would mean that less and less cases would be solved in time.

This didn't bother him –he was a retired inventor, he didn't need action anymore; he helped Ryuzaki not for his own entertainment, but because he felt that it was right to do so. He had yet to be let down, and he didn't expect to be let down in the future, either.

This case in particular was quite easy for Quillish –he simply had to deliver letters to and from the Yagami estate while remaining undetected –a relatively simple affair considering that he had been required to assassinate people on more than one occasion in his lifetime.

However, despite how easy it was to act out, it was also the hardest to bear. Near, someone who reminded him so much of L as a young boy, was involved –and he couldn't help but fear for the poor boy's life, stuck in his Uncle's coliseum, completely at the mercy of the lions within it. L had promised him time and time again that everyone would be saved –but for Light- but Quillish found it hard to stomach. Light Yagami was more intelligent than anyone Ryuzaki had encountered thus far, and he wasn't sure that Ryuzaki knew it.

Then he saw him –Mello, his name was, a stereotypical commoner if ever there was one- almost strutting down the street in his confidence. He found himself wishing that Mello would treat their meetings with the seriousness and cautiousness such clandestine operations were due.

"Here you go Watari," he said, handing Quillish an enveloped letter.

"Thank you," he replied curtly, "Here is his response; and a few Brazil Nuts for you."

Quillish handed Mello both the Brazilian nuts and the letter.

Mello thanked 'Watari' and sauntered down the high street again. But then Quillish noticed something –someone in amongst the many people in the street wasn't moving. He tried to get a better look without moving his head; he suddenly felt light-headed upon noticing who it was.

It was Light Yagami.

_'I must inform L as soon as possible.'_

Though Quillish knew that L would only just be leaving Yagami's mansion now –Quillish would have to speak to Ryuzaki at the base he and the Anarchist had established.

'Watari' walked away as if he had never noticed Light. Light didn't follow him –he walked briskly toward his mansion instead.

'_Damn it! Damn it, damn it!'_

Quillish glanced at the alleyway where he'd go to head back to base. His face didn't betray how afraid he felt.

_'Near, Mello… dear God… I hope that they'll be okay.'_

-

Near felt hot –incredibly hot, his head throbbed painfully with every beat of his heart. He longed for the cold air that stole his body heat so readily in the morning –but it refused to come; only a tepid stuffiness that he realised probably existed purely in his mind.

_'What has caused me to be so ill this suddenly?'_

He didn't think that speaking to Mello had caused it –on the contrary, he was very glad that Mello had came to talk to him; if Mello hadn't had done that, he would never have known that Mello was an orphan just like he was.

_'I wonder if Mello could help me understand why my feelings behaved the way they did this morning?'_

A coughing fit brought Near back to grim reality; and the coughing didn't lessen –it escalated. Near was starting to find it hard to breathe –hard to think.

_'No… can't breathe…'_

The coughs abruptly stopped, and he gasped, dragging as much air into his body as possible.

_'I'm ill, I need to see a doctor.'_

Near relaxed into the large bed, trying to conserve what little energy he had left.

'_If I sleep, my body might be able to cure me of whatever ailment currently infests my being.'_

The room was silent except for Near's short, sharp breaths.

He heard a loud clicking noise; the clicking transformed into a loud thumping that sounded as if it were ascending the stairs before it faded into nothingness.

_'… __It went into what must be the attic… I would presume that it is the attic… so… the noise… is it Mello?'_

Near heard a second clicking noise, though this one was quieter. Then he heard firm thudding noises rise up past what Near assumed was the staircase, before moving closer and closer to Near's door.

_'I haven't locked it. Who is it? Who would want to come to my room?'_

The thudding sounded more like a banging now; it suddenly stopped at Near's door.

Someone –or something- knocked three times –three thunderous raps against the wooden door.

'_Please be either Mello or Uncle Light; I'm too weak to handle anything else right now…'_

Light walked into the room, a smile adorned his face, and his hair shone in the evening sun "Hello Near, how are you?" he asked conversationally.

"Very ill Uncle," Near answered, his voice a feeble croak, "my head is aching, and I've had two fits of coughing within a very short period of time."

Light's mouth creased in a frown, though his brown eyes remained as bright as they had been when he'd first entered the room.

Light's voice was concerned, "I'm sorry to hear that Near; I know a remedy for coughing. Would you like me to prepare it for you?"

Near nodded, closing his eyes and resting his head against a pillow.

"Near," Light began, slowly walking closer to his Nephew's bed, "Have you been speaking to anyone at all recently?"

Near thought that such a question was odd –he wasn't sure what Light was trying to find out by asking him something like that.

_'He and Mello don't get along. I'd better be careful of what I say -I don't want to get Mello in trouble.'_

He didn't open his eyes as he replied, "No, not really."

Light's frown deepened, "Okay then; I'll prepare the remedy for you now." He said, his voice a travesty of concern.

Near heard the door close and he sighed in relief –now he could rest peacefully.

'_Like a corpse in a coffin.'_ Near thought despondently.

He shuddered –he hoped sleep would come soon.

-

The sun was setting in front of the ruined groundskeeper's building, but Ryuzaki didn't take the time to notice. He was far too busy cogitating on what Quillish had told him only moments ago -that Light saw him giving Mello both the letter and the Brazil Nuts.

_'I didn't expect Light to be so quick –but now that he has discovered the letters, I need to resort to the backup plan I prepared beforehand.'_

L turned to face his anarchic associate. "Matt, where does Mello hide his letters?" he asked quickly.

Matt lit up a cigarette, "Under his bed."

Ryuzaki liked the situation less and less as he discovered more.

_'Light will almost certainly find the letters.'_

"I shall have Watari inform Mello that Light is reading his letters tomorrow afternoon." L murmured.

He was powerless yet again –never before had he been in a case where he had felt so useless –and, he vowed, never again.

L stared out of a shattered window, resolve rising within him like a phoenix out of the ashes.

'_You will not win Light. If Mello's letter is to be believed, then my plan is already falling into place; by Friday, your mansion will be nothing but charcoal and you will be in my custody.'_

L smiled. He never lost, and this case would be no exception.

-

Ryuzaki had hidden an ace up his sleeve all along.

Light had been surprised to see Mello outside -even moreso when he saw Mello trading letters with an old man.

_'I knew that you would attempt to spy on me eventually -I simply didn't expect you to use Mello. I was foolish; though that isn't important now -Near's health is deteriorating, and you aren't here to help him.'_

Light poured some bronze liquid into the bowl of ground vegetables.

He hadn't set out to kill Near -the boy was an unfortunate casualty in a war that had been raging long before he was even born. If Light hadn't been a dedicated man, he might have felt sorry for Near -but he couldn't afford to let such emotions get in the way of his plan; the fate of the country mattered more than the life of one small boy.

The remedy was complete; nothing was in his way now.

Light's grin spread from ear to ear.

He'd won –once Near consumed the 'remedy' he would fall to sleep and die – then he'd kill his traitorous servant Mello, dispose of both of their bodies, and claim that Mello kidnapped and then subsequently murdered Near.

Only Ryuzaki would gather what had really happened; and when Ryuzaki came to kill him, he would simply have trained guards murder him –one man cannot beat six, no matter how smart or agile he is.

He picked up the bowl of steaming liquid.

_'Good night Near, and sweet dreams.'_

-

_Thanks for reading this! I hope you've enjoyed it!_

_Unfortunately I won't be updating this for another two weeks –I'm on holiday now, and I'll have a lot less time to write._

_I know I left a lot of frayed ends here –sorry about that, but putting them in this chapter would remove from the thrill aspect of it. All the loose ends of this chapter will be tied up in the next though, don't worry._

_Thanks again!_

_-Insanitoon._


	4. Phoenix

A/N:

Hi! Sorry that this is so late –it needed a lot of editing, and most of this has been re-written. Due to some accidents on my part, this is the last chapter! Sorry!

Also, I know that I contradicted myself on how L found out about Near's Dad's death, but please take the explanation of the last chapter as the true definition. XD Another apology from me.

Finally, a big thank you to my beta-reader Forbiddensoul562! You have really helped make this fanfiction what it is (you should feel guilty =P)!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter =)

-

Chapter 4: Phoenix

It was 2 'o clock in the afternoon. The sun was shining down from within the cerulean sky.

Light washed his kitchen utensils vigorously.

He had checked on Near last night, after he'd given him the 'remedy'. The bowl had been empty, and his breathing had been incredibly shallow.

'_And when I go upstairs today, he shall be dead.'_

Light began cleaning a particularly large knife. He ran a cloth across its smooth, steel surface.

Everything had been going to plan. His 'friends' had already begun to sway the political system in favour of Oligarchy. Control was drifting further and further into the hands of the rich and the powerful –of which he was the most powerful of all. Ryuzaki had been trying to undermine this movement for years, but never had he succeeded.

_'He will never be able to stop me. I own the majority of Britain's most expensive properties, my political influence is unrivalled and I am conceivably the most intelligent man in existence.'_

Ryuzaki didn't stand a chance.

Near's death was simply another part of that plan. Light gained no pleasure out of killing Near. If anything, killing Near was the greatest shame of all. He had held much hope in his heart for Near; Light had honestly believed it were possible for his nephew to be fixed after being under the influence of his rebellious father. But he had to die, Light was sure that Near was helping Ryuzaki, relaying information to the rebel under his nose. In his own _mansion_.

When Ryuzaki had interfered with the natural process, Near's evolution from neonatal rebel to mature, upstanding citizen by invading his home, he ignited suspicion in Light; a suspicion that only burgeoned as the days passed by.

Initially, Light had suspected Mello. The upstart of a house servant had always been a threat; he'd always been controllable though. But if Ryuzaki was confident enough to simply barge into the mansion, then Light could only conclude that he had sufficient backup in case things went wrong.

Light had started to wonder about just how much backup Ryuzaki had, just how well prepared he was. Then he'd begun to suspect Near, and one thing lead to another…

He'd started to become paranoid recently. He'd caught himself feeling suspicious about random people walking by in the street on more than once occasion. He couldn't stop thinking about Ryuzaki, about how everyone could be in on that outlaw's plans.

Light had known what would come of inviting the detective to his party. He'd not had much choice in the matter; Ryuzaki, previously just an irritating, meaningless detective, had recently become his cousin in-law. Light wished that his Aunt had never been widowed in the first place.

Light would have had Ryuzaki assassinated there and then if his cousin didn't already have connections to every assassin in Winchester.

But he didn't. Instead, he'd decided to make use of a plan that had already been put into place.

He could have not murdered Aiko at the party, not murdered Aiko right in front of Ryuzaki, but that wouldn't have been fair sport. No, he'd wanted Ryuzaki to suspect him –he'd left Aiko's food within Ryuzaki's reach for that very reason.

If Ryuzaki wanted a competition, he could have one. Light had been waiting for an opportunity to kill him, anyway.

_'Now to set the beginnings of Ryuzaki's end in motion.'_

Light placed the knife alongside the other clean utensils and left the kitchen.

-

He rapped twice on Near's door. No answer.

Light felt a surge of energy run up his spine; a grin crawled across his features.

'_Yes, I've succeeded, I've beaten you, Ryuzaki!'_

He opened the door and walked in. The grin was slapped off of his face.

The room was empty. Near was nowhere to be seen.

'_WHAT!?'_

He looked to Near's bedside table –the bowl was empty.

_'What's happened? Has Mello done something? Has Ryuzaki done something? Did he actually have the bravado to infiltrate my mansion whilst I slept!?'_

Light dashed out of the bedroom.

-

He'd wanted to see Mello; that's why he'd left. He'd wanted to go down to the garden again.

Leaving his room had been difficult. It had taken great effort just to put his hand on the doorknob. Eventually, he'd pushed it open and carefully walked out onto the landing. He had made it down the staircase and into a hallway, but then he'd lost it. Panic had set in, and his thoughts had started to swirl together and spin around like a tornado. His emotions had followed suit, and fractured, allowing the pain locked behind the fragile window of his mind to spill forth into his body.

_'I'd even been feeling well until I left my room. But now…'_

Near leaned his head against a wall. He couldn't push the anxiety out of his mind; it just kept forcing itself back in, again and again. His breathing was becoming laboured, and he could feel the sweat covering his body.

_'Why am I reacting so irrationally? I know that there is no danger in leaving my room. Yet these emotions refuse to leave me alone.'_

He thought about closing his eyes… - he pushed the idea out of his head; if he couldn't see the surrounding area anything that was there could attack him before he had a chance to react.

_'What is _anything_? Do I even know what anything is?'_

Near shook his head against the wall, trying to clear his confused mind.

_'This is starting to get ridiculous. I can't simply stand here!'_

Near was almost ready to give up and crumple to the floor when he heard Mello.

"Near!" he called.

_'He sounds concerned… do I look that unwell?'_

"Are you all right? You look ill." Mello's voice was controlled, but Near could detect an undertone of fear.

_'Why does he seem to be so worried about me? Should I be honest with him…? No, I can't do that yet. He's impulsive, and I have no idea how he will react.'_

"Yes, I'm fine thank you."

_'I can't expect him to believe that.'_

Near continued to look down at the floor. He could feel Mello's incredulous stare boring into his skull.

Mello sounded dreamy and distracted when he spoke again, "Near, do you want to come to the Library with me?"

_'What a strange question… the Library must somehow be connected with his thoughts on my appearance. Does he wish to continue to question me there? It would seem strange to refuse at this point; and besides that, I'd much rather be with Mello than be alone in the hallways of this mansion.'_

Near looked up at Mello. The blonde-haired boy was staring out toward the Lobby; his eyes were darting around in their sockets, intense, and alert.

_'What are you thinking about Mello?'_

Near eventually spoke up, "Yes," he replied feebly, "I'd like to come."

Mello wasn't broken out of his thoughts by this response. He simply began to walk forward, turning his head from left to right as they walked past the many doors and corridors in Light's mansion.

Eventually they reached the Lobby. Light strode down the staircase towards them.

"Hello Near, good afternoon!" he began, sounding genuinely happy. He then nodded at his blonde-haired servant, "Mello."

_'I wonder if Uncle Light can detect how anxious I have been feeling as well…'_

Light turned around; his eyes connected with Near's.

"How are you feeling today? Are you feeling any better?" he asked.

_'I'm not actually ill any more, though I'm incredibly hungry, and weak. However, if I look ill, he might assume that I'm lying. Would he ask me more questions if I said that I was well?'_

Near decided that he'd take that risk, "Yes; I'm well, thank you."

Light stared down at Near; his gaze unfaltering.

"I'm pleased to hear that," he began, his voice smiling despite the frown depicted in his eyes, "did the medicine help?"

_'Did it help…? I can't remember anything from last night… I can only remember Uncle Light entering my room, and then… nothing.'_

"I think so… I can't remember much from last night." Near replied levelly.

"I see." His Uncle muttered.

'_He doesn't sound as if he's truly paying attention to what I'm saying.'_

A glint of irritation passed across Light's brown eyes.

"Near, why are you with Mello?" He asked, curiosity and animosity boiling in unison under his barely cool voice.

_'I must answer him before Mello has a chance to; if Mello replies, then Light might suspect him of blackmailing me into silence or passivity.'_

Near tried to speak, but faltered.

_'No, I paused! Now he'll know for certain that I'm lying!'_

Near quickly started talking, twirling a lock of white hair in his fingers as he did so.

"I asked Mello to show me around the mansion. I would have asked you, uncle, but you seem like a busy person." He explained.

Near avoided thinking about his initial hesitation, and instead focused on the hair between his fingers.

He stared at his Uncle, and Light stared back at him. Light's face was as expressionless as a mask.

Then his mouth curved in a smile, "Okay then." he began amicably, "Well, I have an engagement to attend to. I won't be back until much later in the evening; I'll see you then. Goodbye Near!"

Light waved and walked out of the front door.

-

Light locked the door to his mansion behind him, mulling over what he'd just discovered.

Near hadn't died. On top of that, Near and Mello were obviously on friendly terms with each other. Light gathered that much from the bits of their conversation that he'd overheard.

Their amiability wasn't a concern in itself, but if he was right about Ryuzaki contact Mello, and possibly Near, then it meant that they were actually working _together_ against him.

That simply couldn't be allowed to continue.

He hadn't intended to go out today, but circumstances had changed since then. He didn't have any weapons on his person at the moment. He'd need some, and he knew just the man to supply them. It wouldn't be difficult: Thousands of pounds were quite an incentive for a black-market dealer.

Light saw two uniformed men walk towards him.

_'Good, they're on time.'_

As they drew closer, Light smiled at them and greeted them both in turn.

The smile quickly left his face as he got down to business.

"As guardsmen, I'm sure you're well aware of what you're expected to do. However, I have a slightly unusual request…"

Light paused for a moment, examining the two tall, broad gentlemen.

_'I can't truly trust them, but I'm sure that they are not foolish enough to cross one of the most powerful men in Britain.'_

He continued, raising his arm and gesturing toward the front door, "Let in anyone who wants to come in. However, under no circumstances are you to allow anyone to _leave_ the building; understood?"

The men nodded without hesitation.

'_Servile idiots.'_

Light brought out a smile once again, "Excellent. I shall pay you when I return at around 11pm, and pay you well, _if_ everything is in order."

They both nodded, their eyes almost bulging in avaricious hunger.

Light bid the guardsmen adieu and strolled down the street.

'_Fools.'_ Light mused as he walked away, _'Though they are very useful fools.'_

He turned and walked onward. It was a brilliant day today, and it was only going to get better.

-

Worry crawled into Mello's mind like a long, voracious insect.

_' "…he's planning on killing both you and Near."'_

That's what Matt had said in his letter. Was it true? …Why would he lie?

Mello had never trusted Light, ever, but he hadn't expected Light to kill his own nephew.

But then he'd seen Near in the hallway; the white-haired kid been panting as if he'd just sprinted for a couple of miles, and he was shaking like a sick puppy.

But Near's _eyes_, God his eyes were so wild and afraid. That had scared the crap out of Mello.

_' "Don't let him catch you alone, and don't give Light any opportunity to get Near on his own either."'_

Matt had been quite adamant about that.

Mello wondered if he would be sitting on a chair opposite Near right now if he hadn't got involved.

It started with the letter. He'd read the contents at least twice; the news hadn't become easier to deal with the second time around.

After a few minutes, he had found himself worrying about Near last night. It had frustrated him; one half of him had wanted to talk to Near, to warn Near about Light's plans, the other half hadn't wanted to allow him to feel such emotions so openly.

He'd ended up going to Near's room; he wasn't going to allow the only other orphan he'd met, the only other person who might truly understand the pain of being alone, to die.

He could remember it clearly. He'd barged into Near's room despite the closed door, half-expecting to see a dead corpse lying on the floor.

At first he'd believed that he _was_ looking at a corpse. Near had chucked his bedcovers onto the floor in a floral heap, probably whilst he slept, as if they had made him too hot even in the height of winter. His skeletal feet and hands stood out starkly against the colours of the bed. Near's hair had lain across his gaunt face in moist spaghetti strands, covering his pallid, sweaty skin. He'd been holding his teddy bear to his chest for comfort, like a small child who was having a bad nightmare.

Mello had just stood there for a while, staring at the pitiful scene before him. Then he remembered why he had wanted to see Near in the first place; they were both under threat from Light.

It didn't take him long to spot something out of place: it was the smell. At first, Mello had attributed the acidic, metallic smell to Near soiling himself whilst he slept. But when he'd moved closer to Near, he realised that the smell was coming from a bowl on white-haired boy's bedside table.

He could remember the contents: a swirling mixture of red and green goop. Little black islands had formed on the surface like cankerous sores on human skin. Mello had to resist the urge to throw up.

One thought had come to his mind: _Light_.

Now he and Near were alone in the mansion, and Mello planned on being ready for any shit Light might throw at them.

Mello's stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since Matt suggested that Light could be poisoning him. He'd read that letter only a day and a half ago, yet it seemed as if it had been weeks. He was starving.

His arms had become thin and skeletal, and he didn't have the strength that he'd had before. He felt like a walking cadaver, just waiting to wither into nothingness.

He didn't plan on fulfilling that prophecy.

They were sitting in the dim library on two of the four chairs available in a corner near the window. They were facing each other across the table that stood between them; Near with one knee on the chair, Mello splayed out across an armchair like an erotic corpse. They had been just sitting in silence for several minutes.

_'He probably doesn't want to talk, but I need to know what happened in the hallway.'_ Mello thought.

He leaned forward, not bothering to prevent his emotions from seeping through onto his face.

Mello shattered the silence like a hammer through glass, "Near, what were you doing in the hallway, and why were you shaking so much?

Mello thought he heard Near swallow.

There was a long pause. The white-haired boy simply sat perfectly still, twirling his hair idly in his fingers.

_'I was right, he doesn't want to talk about it. Did Light threaten him, and scare him into not speaking about it?'_

Near abruptly broke the pause; "I was going into the garden, to see if you were there…"

_'… He must want to start from the beginning and work to the end, which is logical… but… how does wanting to see me relate to the state he was in earlier?'_

Near brought his leg closer to his chest, and rested his head against it. Mello could only see the thick white hair on his head, poking out from behind a knee clad in white pyjamas.

"I was afraid to leave my room, but I forced myself to do so…" Near continued calmly.

More silence. Mello simply sat still and waited for Near to continue. He was finding it harder and harder to be patient. He was desperate to know whether or not Light harmed Near.

_'God damn it Near, spit it out!'_

Near lifted his head up from his knee, and stared at Mello with his cold, grey eyes. "I became emotional, afraid, because I was outside of my room," he turned his head away at that point, as if embarrassed, "and that was why I was in the panicked state I was in earlier."

_'Panicked?' _Mello thought, _'He was panicking, and not ill at all? So Light wasn't even involved…'_

"So in the hallway," Mello began suddenly, "you were afraid?"

"Yes." He replied simply, revealing nothing behind his neutral expression.

Mello started chewing on one of his fingers, "Near… why didn't you tell me this before?"

Near leaned into his knee again, obscuring his face and leaving only his curly hair visible, "I didn't think that you would understand. I'm sorry."

_'I guess I can see where he's coming from… I'd probably be the same…'_

Mello relaxed into his chair, "I understand."

Near relaxed a little bit, a slight dropping of his shoulders. It was a subtle movement, but Mello noticed it.

'Does that mean that he trusts me a bit more now?'

There was a silence then; the air felt heavy amongst the dusty tomes in Light's Library.

'_Now_ I_ need to know if I can trust him with _my_ feelings.'_

"Near," Mello inquired, "… do you ever feel lonely?"

There was a small pause, but then Near replied, "Yes, very often. I was lonely even before I left my own home to come here, as I had no friends."

This time Near didn't hesitate.

"…Do you ever feel lonely, Mello?"

'He asked that quickly…'

Mello held his breath at that question and after a moment's thought, he sighed heavily and replied, "Yes, all the time."

He leaned forward and clasped his hands together; "I haven't got any friends either. I've got Matt, but he's not really a friend. I consider him to be more of a confidant –the only one I have."

Mello paused briefly, then continued, "-was the only I had."

He didn't bother giving Near a chance to speak.

Mello started playing with his hands, "I don't enjoy living here. I mostly just sit around feeling like shit."

He looked down at the wooden floor.

"Yagami is a complete asshole…"

Near looked on calmly, his face belying nothing. For a moment, Mello wondered what Near was thinking, but then he continued.

"… He hates my guts -the feeling is mutual; and always orders me around, well, always used to…"

He looked up at dark, wooden ceiling reflectively.

"I almost preferred it when he did order me around, at least then I was angry, and not depressed. Do you know what it's like to have no purpose other than to serve? Let me give you an idea: it's shit."

He slammed a fisted hand into his own leg, "I'm not some fucking slave, damn it!"

Mello sighed, resting his head in his hands, "… I think about this kind of stuff all day. I try not to, but I have no choice, seeing as I'm stuck in this house; Asshole ordered me to stay in here at all times. I could leave, but then Yagami wouldn't let me in again, and I'd have nowhere to sleep. There won't be any work for someone like me either –I'm completely uncultured and unpretentious –the exact opposite of your everyday manservant."

Mello's face twisted into a snarl; "I hate those pathetic kiss-ups!" He growled, "That's all they are, kiss-ups. They allow themselves to be disrespected by those delusional aristocratic oafs!"

Then he looked up at Near, remaining silent as he did. He tried to read Near's reactions, his face, his hands, anything to judge whether or not he should continue.

'There may not be another time that we will be able to talk like this.'

Mello crossed his legs; "…I know you're an orphan…"

Near fidgeted slightly.

_'Is he uncomfortable with this subject…?'_

Mello continued, "I'm an orphan too… I've never known my parents. I was raised in a poor excuse for an orphanage, where all I learned was to shut people out."

_'There… I told him… now he might trust me when I finally tell him what I've been meaning to tell him all day…'_

Now it was Mello who looked awkward. He fidgeted in his seat, crossing and then uncrossing his legs, leaning forward for a while and then leaning backward afterwards.

Finally, he spoke again, "I've got something to tell you Near. You may not like it, and you probably won't believe me, but I'm going to give you a chance."

Near didn't seem to be listening, he was twirling his hair with his fingers again.

_'He always does that, and he's always seemed to take in what I say… so I should continue.'_

His voice was low, and sombre as he said, "I've got reason to believe that Light is trying to kill both of us."

Despite the gravity of the news, Near remained straight-faced.

_'He can't be that calm…'_

Mello leaned forward in the chair, "I've been writing to a guy named Matt for a while now. He and his associate know Light –but then, everyone important in Winchester knows about Light. Anyway, he told me in his most recent letter than he and that colleague of his are almost certain that Light wants to kill us both. He didn't say how he knew though."

He was playing with his hands again, "At first I was sceptical, but Matt, though he often insults Light, has never told an outright lie before –to my knowledge anyway. He's never mentioned anything about Light's actions outside of what I told him, either. I trust Matt, so I'm willing to believe it; but I wanted evidence, I wanted to see what that bastard was planning for myself. That was why I was in the hallway when I saw you."

Near was staring straight at him now.

'_So he _is_ paying attention.'_

Mello continued, "When Light asked you if you were feeling 'better', it made me even more suspicious. 'Better' implies that you were unwell, and if you were unwell, then Light might have been feeding you poison; he only has to travel to wherever his ores are stored and he can take as much as he likes. If he were poisoning you, it would explain why he spends so much time in his kitchen. Though I understand that this conclusion is rather forced."

Mello's gaze then fell upon Near. The white-haired boy had to turn away to escape the force of Mello's cold stare.

"I tried whatever was in that bowl in your bedroom. It tasted like liquid iron. I threw it out of your window."

Mello broke Near's train of thought, "I know that I haven't got enough evidence to prove that Light really wants to kill us –that's what's so frustrating; but I can't just ignore what Matt says either. If he's right, and I ignore him, we're as good as dead."

Near suddenly became involved in conversation once again, "Mello, I think we should act on the assumption that my Uncle wishes to murder us both, as it is safer; any evidence proving that he wishes to do this will be very useful. However, evidence to the contrary will also be important. Also …May I see those letters?"

'_He was definitely paying attention.'_

Mello simply sat still for a while, as if he were a living statue, frozen in time. Then he jerked back to life and almost jumped out of his chair, striding over to the Library door without so much as a pause in movement.

Near looked on, feeling slightly confused.

"Come on then! You want to see the letters, don't you?" Mello called, sounding slightly irritated.

Near slowly extricated himself from the chair before carefully padding over to the blonde-haired boy.

Mello walked through the door, turning back to comment; "Man you're slow."

They walked through the Library doors.

-

The time was drawing near. He only had a few hours left before he would leave.

L knew that Light could have armed guards waiting outside of his mansion at this point. That's why he wasn't going to attempt to infiltrate it this time. No, he had a much better plan, a plan that would almost guarantee the safety of both Near and Mello.

He had kept Matt unaware of this particular scheme; the Anarchist would only protest if he knew.

What Matt did know was that he had to be at the Yagami household at midnight; he understood that L would be there before he was.

Light had dragged Near and Mello into a petty struggle which had nothing to do with them, and Ryuzaki had had enough of it.

L was going to end it tonight, and he was going to win.

-

They were in Mello's room. It was the most atrocious and foetid place Near had ever been in. Clothes were strewn across the floor, tools were randomly clustered, cluttered or otherwise thrown into any corner or orifice which would prevent them from falling down; and Mello's bed was nothing but a pile of dirty rags.

Near kept his voice level, "Mello… I didn't realise that Light made you sleep in a place like this…"

"Pfft," Mello scoffed, "it's easy to complain about it, but I don't see you offering me your room."

Near remained silent. _'You haven't asked me…'_

"…Anyway," Mello said, continuing as if Near hadn't commented on the room at all, "the letters are under my bed rags."

Mello reached down and pulled out a large collection of paper. He sifted through them, selecting two or three pieces in particular and setting the rest down neatly by his side.

'_These letters must be important to him, as he doesn't appear to treat other things in this room with such neatness and care.'_ Near observed

Mello handed Near the three sheets of paper.

Near sat down on the floor and quickly read through them; he then read through them again as he tried to take in every detail.

The first letter was rather nondescript. It could probably be summarised as: "Sorry about your life Mello, I think you're cool!"

The second one had a spelling mistake, but was otherwise uninteresting.

The third one was particularly interesting. It too had a spelling mistake. The word 'midnight' had been completely mangled to form 'thigmind'. But the whole letter was quite revealing. Near realised what it meant as soon as he finished reading it.

It had read:

"_Hey Mells,_

_How are you? I'm pretty good myself, or was._

_You see, I've got some bad news to relate to you: Light is planning on murdering you. In fact, he's planning on killing both you and Near. Hide all of my letters, or destroy them, if you want. Whatever you do, don't let him catch you alone, and don't give Light any opportunity to get Near on his own either. This guy is seriously murderous –he's been poisoning people for years, and he's almost in the position of power that he's always wanted._

_Don't let him know that you've figured him out, either. If you do that, he might try to finish you off –no matter how he has to do it._

_He's probably already started on Near. Don't let him finish the job, because he'll almost certainly blame it on you._

_But Near isn't your enemy. In fact, we have good reason to believe that Near will be on your side on this one –his dad was a well-known political radical, and he would have most likely imparted such views onto his son._

_I know that I didn't really need to say that, considering what you wrote in your last letter, but I wanted to make sure that we were totally clear._

_Meet me._

_Thigmind." _

'Meet me, Midnight… That's what he's saying. Mello must have gathered this already; though I don't see the point in such a simple code. Is the simplicity intended to mislead people into thinking that there are alternative meanings?'

Near put the letters down on the floor gingerly. He turned to face the blonde-haired boy. "Mello… do you agree that Matt is stating that he will meet you at Midnight?"

Mello stood in front of Near with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I saw that as soon as I read it." He said confidently. Near couldn't help but wonder if that confidence was real or merely a facade.

He let his arms fall to his sides, "Near, we should stick together from now on. Just in case Light decides to forgo the poisoning and just attack us. If he really were that impatient, two people would be much better than one."

'Would my uncle really do that…? My own uncle…? He may have tried to poison me already… if what Mello says is true, then the medicine he gave me was in fact poison… would Mello lie? But what would he gain out of such a lie? He always seemed to be so emotional, so obvious and blunt… is he really manipulative…?'

Near finally nodded in reply to Mello's suggestion, pulling and twisting his hair as he did so.

'No… Mello wouldn't lie. Or, at least, if he is lying, he is the greatest actor I have ever seen. He managed to appear oblivious to the outside world when he was ranting in the Library, and he feigned being blunt when he stormed into my bedroom. No, Mello can be trusted so long as no conflicting evidence arises. If such a situation should occur, I'll investigate the issue myself and inform Light if what I find suggests that I should indict Mello.'

"Near?" Mello's voice shot through the hazy mists of Near's thought like a lightning bolt out of the sky.

"Yes?" He replied; trying to act unsurprised.

He must have failed, as Mello said, "You looked totally lost in thought; what were you thinking about?"

'I can't tell him the truth; that would create immediate enmity between us.'

"I was just thinking about on the content of the letters."

Mello was quick, "What, you don't believe what they say?"

_'He's quite percipient.'_

Near fidgeted slightly, "I do, I was just clarifying them in my mind."

Mello sighed slightly; it was barely audible, "I see."

_'I do believe you Mello… I just need to be completely sure of what you say…'_

The clock chimed in the Lobby. It was 4pm.

-

He had the gun. He had the ammunition. And he most certainly had the resolve.

He was ready.

_'I've had enough of Ryuzaki and his disciples ruining my plans. I shall rip that rose out of the earth. Thorns and all.'_

Light walked up to his mansion. It was dark now –his watch said half past 11. The house was a foreboding giant against the starry sky. He moved closer and talked to the guardsmen. The men reported that no one had tried to exit. Light paid them, and then dismissed them disinterestedly.

Clearly Mello hadn't gone to see the man again.

_'Was he aware that I was watching him? Is this a trap? It's possible… I can't let myself be caught off-guard now.'_

Light was sure he wouldn't be. He was prepared –prepared for Ryuzaki to disrupt his plans like a plague of locusts descending upon a lively crop.

'_You're not going to get the chance to ruin my plan this time. Whether you surprise me or not, both you and your acolytes will die tonight.'_

Light unlocked the front door and strode into his mansion –and what a glorious mansion it was. Magnificent, handmade carpeting covered the whole floor. The banisters were all Oaken, and his clock, the greatest treasure in the whole mansion, stood shining at the top of the centrepiece –his staircase.

He loved the mansion.

_'And now, for ultimate glory.'_

Light ascended the stairway and went into his bedroom.

He sat down on his bed. The covers were made of silk, and were soft and smooth to the touch. But he didn't have time to enjoy his luxuries; there was work to be done.

He pulled the handgun –a Derringer- out of his large black jacket.

This was it; the deed was now going to be done.

_'Mello first.'_

Light once again hid the gun in jacket. It wasn't perfectly concealed, but he wouldn't need to hide it for too long.

Light wondered for a moment if he was paranoid, and deluding himself about Mello and Near. But he shoved the thoughts out of his mind –he couldn't afford to doubt himself at this stage.

_'I must do this. For the sake of Britain and the few virtuous people who reside in it. I must do this.'_

He left his bedroom. The stairs leading to the servant's room were just to his side.

He grimaced –this would be the first time he killed a man with a gun. But he was sure it wouldn't be his last.

He walked calmly up the stairs, before finally entering the room.

It was empty.

Light held back a scream. He had been so ready to kill Mello right there, in that room, at that moment. But he'd gone.

_'Where is he!?'_

Then Light realised.

_'Near… he's with Near. Fine, I'll kill them both, and then hide Mello's body. People will believe that he killed Near… and even if they don't, they won't question someone as powerful as I am.'_

He almost ran down the steps. When he reached the landing he paused. There was a rapping at the door; loud bangs that sounding like someone beating wood.

_'A knock on the door, at this time!? Damn whoever it is! I shall tell them exactly what I think of their rudeness!'_

Light almost neglected to hide his handgun, but he managed to stow it in his jacket as he wrenched the door open and invited in the biting winter wind.

Before him stood a man of average height. His hair was a formless mess on his head; he had black bags under his tired eyes. His gaze was intense, and it was burning right into Light's skull.

It was Ryuzaki.

_'So… you decide to reveal you face to me this time? Near must be important to you.'_

Light smiled warmly, "Ryuzaki! Hello! How are you? Come in!"

Light gestured for Ryuzaki to come in. Ryuzaki obliged and entered the Lobby, closing the door behind him.

"I was just preparing dinner." Light lied, "Would you like to join me?"

Ryuzaki kept a straight face, "Yes, that would be most pleasant, thank you Light."

They walked into the Kitchen; it was shrouded in shadows apart from the main counter and some worktops, which were lit by small lamps. Light motioned for Ryuzaki to sit down as he took the seat closest to the door.

'You're not escaping this time.'

Ryuzaki hopped onto a stool, watching Light intently, as he did, "You're not cooking anything?"

"No." He replied, smiling; "and you knew that when you came in."

Light folded his hands on top of one another; his smile dropped off of his face, "So, why did you come here?" he asked firmly.

"You knew the answer to that question when I came in, Light." Ryuzaki replied, his gaze unfaltering.

Light controlled his expression; he couldn't let Ryuzaki know how he was feeling, "That's true, but I want to hear it from your lips."

Ryuzaki sat in silence.

_'Fine, I don't need you to speak.'_

Light stood up; "Why do you keep getting in my way, Ryuzaki?"

Ryuzaki put his thumb to his lips, "Why do you keep getting in _my_ way?"

_'Irritating scum.'_

Light leaned over the counter, snarling, "I deserve a proper answer this time, Ryuzaki."

Ryuzaki just looked calmly back at Light; "Murderers deserve nothing."

Light ignored him, moving back slightly as he growled, "For five years, you have stood in the way of progress; _five years_. All because I killed your parents. -"

He gesticulated wildly with his arms, "-They were nothing but _filth_, just like you!"

_'I'm losing control; I must remain composed…'_

Light sat back down. Ryuzaki was still staring at him blankly; Light hadn't seen him blink yet.

'_Stare as much as you like,'_ he thought, a feeling of righteousness rising within him, _'enjoy your last moments on this Earth, Ryuzaki.'_

-

They'd been talking.

In fact, they'd been talking to each other for several hours in-between the many silences, each taking turns listening to the other.

But their conversations had gradually dwindled, until eventually they sat in what felt like a soundless vacuum, like they were now.

Near's room was sumptuous and lavish. Mello was sitting next to Near on his soft, comfortable bed. Mello could only imagine how comfortable it must be to sleep in.

'_I have been denied these luxuries for my entire life…' _Mello mused.

He played with the silver cross around his neck; _'How much have I missed? How deprived am I?'_

Mello hated the thought that he was deprived –he felt like a child that had been refused a toy.

_'I'm not a child damn it! I'm not deprived! Yet… I haven't experienced all the things Near must have… he said that, to him, it was normal, and so it didn't seem special… are people really so unaware of how good they've got it?'_

Mello felt empty, he didn't know who he was anymore.

_'Am I even the same person I was a week ago? God… I never really saw things from a different perspective back then; I'd never met anyone to share perspectives with.'_

He had told Near so much about himself. It scared him, because he knew that he was vulnerable now; he couldn't bear that feeling.

Yet he'd had no choice; he'd almost been compelled to spill his guts to the white-haired boy who sat quietly next to him.

'_But I can trust him… he trusted me enough to tell me everything – he poured his heart out the same as I did. He trusted me, too…'_

Mello looked at the boy who sat next to him. Near seemed to be completely lost in thought; he simply sat twirling his white hair as he stared at the wall in front of him.

_'What does Near think of me?'_

Mello continued to watch him, noticing how his chest rose and fell ever so slightly under his white pyjamas. His delicate hands slowly moved in-between his snow-white hair. His skin was pale and devoid of any blemishes.

Mello was starting to sweat. He'd been feeling strange even yesterday –so much so that he had to tell Matt in his letter. Even the following day the feeling didn't leave him.

He'd attributed it to his lack of human contact. Every man has urges, it was just that most of them tend to marry or have sex with prostitutes –or both. Mello hadn't had such luck, as he wasn't allowed outside –probably because Asshole was afraid of him telling people what a lousy ship he runs.

The feeling had become duller, but it hadn't gone away; and now, at the worst possible time, it had decided to come back to play once again.

_'No way, I'm not even going to think about touching him. I'm not, I'm not going to.'_

Mello could feel his body starting to react.

_'This just isn't fair. If I'd still resented Near like I did yesterday morning this wouldn't be so hard. But, after talking to him, I kind of like him. Liking him is not helping one fucking bit at the moment.'_

Near turned to face Mello now.

"Mello," he began, carefully forming each letter with his sweet, soft lips, "I'm quite cold. Do you mind if I go under the bedcovers? Only, you'll have to move for this to be possible."

_'Have to move… To where? To the floor, presumably. Not the bed, right…?'_

Mello managed to nod, hunching as he stood up to hide his rebellious urges from Near.

'_Mother fucking thing! I'd stomp on you if you weren't attached to me!'_

Near's mellifluous, monotonous voice drifted from the bed, "Mello, why are you hunching?"

_'He could picture the scene now: "Well, Near, let me explain. You see, when a man loves someone very much he-"'_

"Pulled a muscle." Mello muttered quickly.

Near didn't respond.

Mello lifted the silver cross off of his neck and dropped it on the floor with a flourish.

_'Lord, don't punish me too harshly, I'm an imperfect human being, as the Nuns liked to say.'_

Mello swivelled on one foot gracefully, stopping as he faced Near.

Without any warning, he leant down and gently kissed the white-haired boy on the lips.

_'This isn't going to end well.'_

Mello withdrew, noticing that, for the first time, Near looked surprised.

_'I've just fucked up any trust we may have had… shit… I never thought it would feel so God damn awful about destroying this boy's trust in me…'_

Near sat up, the shock had left his face now. He leaned toward Mello, and Mello unconsciously leaned in with him. They kissed again, their lips brushed against each other tenderly; Near's soft skin against Mello's own. It was bliss.

_'No way… did he really…?'_

They separated again, except this time a tiny smile adorned Near's angelic features. Mello smiled back.

Near lay back down on his bed; Mello thought that Near wanted to end their contact there, but then the white-haired boy suddenly tugged on his sleeve.

Mello let himself be pulled onto the bed. He slipped under the soft covers, putting on arm over Near as he did. Mello could feel the other boy's small form press against his own. Mello kissed him again.

'_God, does it feel good to kiss someone… this is not helping _at all_.'_

Mello lay there, listening to the small boy's breaths.

'_He's so delicate… oh man… no, I can't do what I… want to do…'_

He closed his eyes, and allowed the warmth of Near' body to meld with his own. Near snuggled his head into Mello's shoulder.

Mello thought of his cross, cast to the depths of the carpet.

'_You win this time Jesus, but don't get hopeful about winning again.'_

-

Matt walked through the sewers of Winchester, carrying a huge tank full of oil in his hand. Yagami was going to burn.

It was pitch black in the sewers, but had learned the pathways by heart long ago; he didn't need sight to navigate them now.

He'd worked with L many times through Watari, but this was the first time he'd ever seen person behind the letter.

L had sent him a message requesting his help. He'd accepted immediately –if L wanted it done then it was almost certainly a worthy cause.

In the beginning, L had been so confident; so passionate. He had planned out every move, thought out every single action that he would take against Light.

But after Light had seen Watari, L had started to lose hope. He'd seemed so tired and depressed recently.

What had really scared Matt was what L had said to him before he left for Light's mansion.

_' "Goodbye Matt, you have been my greatest asset in this investigation." '_

It sounded so final; what was he planning on doing? He had an escape plan, didn't he?

Matt hadn't given it too much thought –the more he let it play on his mind, the less focused he was, and L needed him to be focused.

_'He didn't ask me to help him plan, I'm good at what I do –destroying things. Light's mansion is next on the hit list and baby, it's going to burn like so much rotten timber when me and my other keen allies are through with it.'_

Matt trudged through the grime and muck, getting ever closer to his destination.

-

They had sat in silence for almost fifteen minutes,

'_Is he trying to force me to speak? …He might be waiting for something to happen… has he already got to Near and Mello?'_

"They're dead." Light said nonchalantly, picking up some vegetables with his fork, "Mello killed Near, and then tried to kill me. So I killed him first."

Light gazed into Ryuzaki's dark eyes as though waiting to analyse his cousin's reaction.

_'I knew it, he wants a reaction from me. What a fool.'_

L simply stared back at him enigmatically, "That's a shame. You must be quite distraught."

_'Why is he trying to anger me?'_

Light remained composed, "Yes, aren't you?"

"No, I never knew them very well." L retorted.

Light frowned deeply, and stood up from his chair.

"Let's drop the pretences." He said coldly, "give yourself up now, and I won't need to kill you."

L remained seated.

_'Surely he can't expect me to accept this absurd deal. He must have an alternative plan.'_

Light sighed in mock despair, placing a hand to his forehead, "That's a shame Ryuzaki."

He pulled out a gun, brandishing it in front of himself cockily. "You're helpless now, they'll never know that I did it…" He growled.

Then Light screamed; he roared so loudly that it echoed back off of the pristine walls and hurt L's ears.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING RYUZAKI!? STOP IT!"

Light lifted up his left forearm and shot it. The bullet hit the flesh with a dull thud. Blood gushed out of the wound in a red waterfall, splattering all over the previously clean counters and tiles.

Light grinned, "You're next."

-

Two gunshots, then another three.

Near had awoken with a start as Mello jumped out of the bed.

"He's lost it, he must have killed someone else, and we'll be next." Mello stated sombrely.

Near grabbed his teddy bear; then he quickly got out of bed and followed Mello out of the bedroom door.

The clock was chiming its sonorous tones, one after the other; each ring pounded against Near's chest as if he were being hit by a heavy rock.

It was midnight.

Loud bangs shot out from the front door. It started to crack, breaking little by little. Then the force became too much, and the doorway was completely eviscerated. It fell to the floor in a splintery heap.

An army of shadowy figures stormed in and began running around wildly, swinging tanks and bottles and boxes of liquid around in their hands. The black substance clung to the walls and was absorbed into the carpets. They flung their empty containers onto the floor in a wild frenzy.

One of them called out, "Hey Mells! Get the fuck down here!"

Mello turned to Near and grabbed his hand, charging down the stairs like a gazelle.

Mello stopped to speak to the man but he just yelled, "No! Move, move now! There's no time!"

Mello ran out of the door and dragged Near through the raucous crowd with him. Voice shouting "Run, I'm setting it alight!" could be heard from behind.

Near looked back as his white hair flew about in the wind. The house was ablaze; fire raged from within the mutilated doorway like a burning throat. The windows were lit up like eyes, screaming in agony.

Near felt ill as he realised that he was staying in the burning edifice only moments ago.

_'Uncle Light… he's dead… just like my father.'_

A redheaded man ran past them both. "Come on!" he commanded.

Mello ran after him, but was snagged by Near's motionless body.

"Near, move! We've got to follow Matt!"

Near gazed at the carcass of a mansion one more time before letting Mello drag him along by his hand. _'What's happening?'_ he thought.

The sewer lid came into sight. The redhead jumped down it. Mello went afterwards. Then it was Near's turn. He held onto his teddy bear with his mouth as he descended into the black, gaping maw.

-

Matt hated newspapers, but he couldn't help but pick up the local paper that morning.

_"ARSON_

_Community Devastated_

_Last night at approximately midnight, a mansion belonging to local businessman and socialite Light Yagami was burned to death. The police have found the body, but it has sustained too much damage to be identified. The local authorities are searching for suspects, and welcome any information the public has to offer…"_

Matt threw the newspaper to the floor.

_'What happened to L? Did he escape?'_

Mello and Near were still lying asleep in each other's arms on the small couch in the abandoned building; Matt supposed that the shock of the situation had got to them.

He sighed and leaned back in the mouldy armchair in his redundant 'HQ'. He picked up a cigarette and lit it –he needed something to calm him down right about now.

_'They only found one body… is that Light's… or L's…?'_

-

He was alive.

In the end, he'd escaped by breaking the kitchen window. He wasted no time; he'd run all the way. He'd run as far away as possible, using only the back streets so that no one spotted him.

He'd stayed in an alleyway that night, getting only one hour's worth of sleep. He didn't mind that too much; it was worth it.

He'd won this time. He knew he would.

Now it was morning time, and he was going to go and contact the press.

Light Yagami grinned from ear to ear. He had to stop himself from laughing out loud.

He'd won!

Light walked up to his mansion, ready to put on the act of his life.

_'You should have taken my offer Ryuzaki.'_ he thought,_ 'You should have taken it.'_

-

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_-  
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**-**

_That's it! It certainly didn't turn out _**anything**_ like I had hoped it would, but I'm still sort of pleased with it nonetheless. Obviously, let me know what you think of it._

_Most importantly, I hope you enjoyed it. =)_

_Thanks for reading this fanfiction!_

_-Insanitoon_


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